


A Fine Line

by Zoe1078



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Drama, Eventual Smut, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-02
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 03:56:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 39
Words: 247,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1730255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoe1078/pseuds/Zoe1078
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for MargotTenser and the Tricky Raven Silent Auction. Her prompt was: Leah and Paul against the world/ universe/ destiny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Players

**Author's Note:**

> Banner by goldengirl2707 of Printing Paws. Beta'ed by Babs81410.

A/N: Written for MargotTenser and the Tricky Raven Silent Auction. Her prompt was: Leah and Paul against the world/universe/destiny. This was supposed to be a one-shot, but I’m way too long-winded, so instead it will be a short multi chaptered fic.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters are the property of their Stephenie Meyer. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

X-x-x-x-X

There were long stretches of time when Leah Clearwater and Rachel Black could better be described as "frenemies" rather than friends. They were friends because of the amount of time they spent together playing as children or socializing as teens. They were enemies because Rachel's twin sister Rebecca considered Leah to be her best friend, while Rachel considered Rebecca to be hers. Rebecca didn't dislike her sister, but neither did she enjoy being a twin as much as Rachel did. Rachel loved sharing everything with her from their bedroom to their mother's womb to their faces, but Rebecca thought that sometimes it was nice to get a break from all the sharing. Nearly everyone confused them for each other. Rachel relished that fact, often wearing the same clothes or copying her sister's hairstyle to emphasize their sameness, while Rebecca got annoyed. Rachel didn't mind it when people called her by her sister's name or referred to her as "one of the Black twins". Rebecca hated it, and she longed for her own identity.

In fact, the first thing that Rebecca noticed about Leah was that she had no trouble telling them apart. The second was that she had her own room. Leah didn't have to share with anyone, not even when her baby brother was born. Moreover, Leah was perfectly happy to loan toys, games, and eventually, makeup and clothes to either twin. Rebecca thought Leah was generous. Rachel thought Leah was trying to steal her sister because she wasn't lucky enough to have one of her own.

Leah did have a second cousin who was close to their age, though. The first time they met Emily was the first time Rachel actually got mad at Leah. Until then, she quietly resented how close Leah and Rebecca had become, but Leah was never mean or snobby to either of them, and she always invited Rachel to play when she invited Rebecca. Leah talked to Rebecca more than she talked to her, but she never ignored Rachel or deliberately excluded her. To the outside observer, the three girls looked like great friends. They played together at recess, sat together in the cafeteria, and had sleepovers at each other's houses. When Emily came to visit, though, Leah introduced her as her best friend. Rachel was floored. How could Leah be so cruel to Rebecca? How could she demote her so casually, and directly to her face? Particularly for someone as dull and uninteresting as Emily?

But Rebecca didn't even seem to notice that she had been slighted. Rachel was perplexed and frustrated. She couldn't stand that her twin liked someone better than her. How could Rebecca bear knowing that Leah thought she was second best? Rebecca just shrugged and said that one day Leah would realize Emily was not a true friend, but that had never stopped Leah from being a good friend to Rebecca, and since when was this a competition anyway? Rachel was so caught up thinking about rivalries that she missed the first part of Rebecca's statement until much later. It took her a very long time, but eventually she noticed that Emily was even more jealous of Leah than she was.

Emily generally did a better job of hiding her envy from Leah than Rachel did. This was partly due to distance; the cousins didn’t actually see each other very often since Emily lived in Neah Bay rather than La Push. It also helped that they directly competed for nothing. On the other hand, Rachel and Leah were frequently compared to one another (although not nearly as often as Rachel and Rebecca were, which Rachel never noticed, but bothered Rebecca to no end). In preschool Leah learned her letters first, but Rachel could write numbers legibly before Leah could. Soon Leah was reading boring books without pictures, while Rachel still wondered what planet Dr. Seuss lived on. But Rachel could do multiplication when Leah still forgot to carry the one. Meanwhile, their teachers noticed that their rivalry spurred each girl to strengthen their respective weaknesses in an attempt to catch up to the other. As a result, one or the other was always at the top of the class. It never occurred to Rachel that Leah kept competing with her to keep her from competing with her twin sister. After all, Rachel was a very sore loser, and Rebecca wanted nothing to do with competition.

As they moved from elementary to middle school, they continued honing their respective strengths against one another. Leah was a faster runner, but Rachel a more adept swimmer. Leah could play the piano beautifully, but Rachel had a better singing voice. Leah’s hair was always silkier and thicker than Rachel’s, but Rachel had a better selection of glosses that made her lips look shiny and full. Secretly, each girl thought the other was prettier.

The boys of La Push hotly debated the latter topic. Jacob declared that his sisters looked like trolls, and Seth said his sister was “just so Lee”, the meaning of which Leah never quite determined. Sam Uley declared that Leah was the prettiest girl on the planet at age four, and for the rest of his life, he never wavered in that opinion. Everyone else thought all three girls were beautiful. Leah started developing sooner than the twins, which gave her a lead that lasted for all of middle school, but she noticed no one’s attention but Sam’s, so it hardly mattered to her. Rachel noticed, though, while she waited for curves to appear on her long, slender form.

It didn't help that their cousin Quil was constantly leaving dead bugs in their sheets, or that Embry became incoherent at the very sight of the twins, acts which were representative of the crushes each boy had on both girls that actually made them feel less attractive. On the other hand, Sam picked wildflowers and left them on Leah's porch, or asked to hold her hand as they walked home from school, or sweetly kissed her underneath the huge oak tree that bordered the schoolyard. Leah was the first girl in their grade to have a boyfriend that lasted longer than two weeks. She said yes when Sam asked her to be his girlfriend on the last day of school in sixth grade, and she didn't look at another boy for years.

Eventually, it wasn’t just Quil and Embry who harassed Rachel and Rebecca. In class spitballs came flying out of nowhere, and they gained a list of annoying nicknames that they both hated. A boy named Ricky in the class above them was the leader of a small group of bullies. They picked on plenty of victims, but Rachel and Rebecca were the most common targets. Rebecca usually just rolled her eyes and turned her back on them, but the one time she was cornered and felt physically threatened, Rachel aimed the toes of her pointy, patent leather shoes into the groin of the nearest boy, and they backed off.

Leah, on the other hand, didn’t have to defend herself at all. Sam was usually quite placid in nature, and in most cases he was as unflappable as Rebecca. But if anyone so much as looked at Leah the wrong way, he lost it. He was half a head taller than any other boy in school, even the ones older than he, and his father Joshua had taught him how to fight before he disappeared. Sam knew how to slam the heel of his hand into an opponent’s nose in order to break it, how to jab someone in the throat so they couldn’t breathe, and that he should place one foot slightly behind him to push off it when throwing a punch. He used every one of those skills in the schoolyard the afternoon that Ricky dropped a spider down Leah’s shirt. Sam was suspended, but no one gave Leah any trouble after that.

The only kid on the reservation foolhardy enough to bother Leah was little Paul Lahote. He had been the toddler who made their baby brothers cry, the annoying little brat who tugged on their pigtails, and the snot-nosed kid who threw worms at all three of them. He was an equal-opportunity aggressor, and he made no exceptions. During a community picnic near the beach, he crawled under the table and tied Rebecca’s shoes together. He glued Rachel’s backpack zipper shut twice. He made it his life’s mission to drench Leah with water whenever possible because he liked the way her shirt clung to her chest. Sam beat him up three times, but he didn’t stop.

But then the bullies left the twins alone, because the worst possible thing happened. After a terrible accident came the most painful comparison of all. Leah had a mother, but Rachel and Rebecca did not. Leah was willing to share hers, and Sue started spending as much time with the twins as possible, inviting them to family dinners, dropping by their house with food, and asking about the little details of their lives. Rebecca took solace in the comfort she offered, but Rachel was only angry that Sarah wasn’t there to do such things herself.

It somehow brought Rachel and Leah closer together. Leah never tried to tell Rachel that it would be okay, that the pain would pass in time, or that she needed to let go of some of her anger. She didn’t treat her like a china doll, either. Everyone acted like they were walking on eggshells around the twins, but not Leah. When Rachel snapped at Leah, she snapped right back, and Rachel was relieved because it felt so normal. Leah also didn’t avoid the girls like everyone else seemed to. She just agreed with Rachel that what had happened was truly awful and unfixable and distracted her when it was possible. Without Leah, Rachel would have been completely lost, because not only was her mother gone, but her father was drowning in grief, and Rebecca seemed to be pulling away as well.

During freshman year of high school, Rebecca started dating a white boy from Forks. His name was Ellis, and he was sixteen and owned his own car. He was a nice boy, and he distracted Rebecca out of her mourning, but Rachel felt abandoned when she needed her sister the most. The couple tried to set her up with one of his friends, but Rachel thought he was a creep and refused to see him again. After that, she started to feel like a third wheel around her own sister. She began to lean on Leah more and more, especially since she preferred the Clearwater house to her own. The two friends never stopped competing with one another, but now it was friendly.

Of course, Leah couldn't be there for Rachel at every second. She had her own life, and Sam took up a lot of her time. Friday and Saturday evenings were the worst, when Rebecca disappeared to Forks and Sam and Leah were on dates. Rachel tried to spend some time with her devastated younger brother, but she didn't know how to make him feel better. She had no reassuring words to give, nothing that would make the pain fade.

Things got a little better when Leah invited Rachel on a double date with Mason, one of Sam's lacrosse teammates. Rachel wasn't exactly enamored of him, but he was funny, friendly, and cute. A few dates later, he asked her to be his girlfriend. Rachel said yes despite the fact that Mason never looked at her the way Sam looked at Leah, and she was certain that she didn't look at him that way either. Even so, he provided a pleasant distraction. With him around, she no longer felt like an outsider.

High school progressed in an unremarkable fashion, and were it not for Sarah’s absence, everything would have felt normal. But Rachel continued to be melancholy, Rebecca was increasingly distant, and watching them, Leah learned to value what she had. Perhaps the only good things to come out of Sarah's death were Leah’s appreciation of her family and Rachel's drive. When Rachel looked around her, all she saw were memories of her mother: the coffee mug she used to drink out of every morning, the scarves she knitted for cold weather, books she bought but never had the chance to read. Rachel knew she couldn't stay in La Push forever, not like this. She needed an escape, and she knew how to get it. She would have to earn a scholarship so that she could go to college. Rebecca endorsed the plan, but Leah actually tried to help her make it happen. While Rachel helped Leah ace chemistry, Leah tutored Rachel in composition, her weakest subject. They did online AP classes together in the computer lab, Leah joined the environmental club that Rachel founded, and Leah even got Rachel a volunteering position at the hospital.

While the girls focused on their intellectual skills, their bodies grew up without any such cultivation. The twins found themselves growing into their gangly bodies, and Leah transformed from a pretty girl to a beautiful woman. Just about every boy on the reservation had a crush on at least one if not all three of the girls, but all of them were considered off limits due to their boyfriends. Somehow that didn't stop Paul. When he was a freshman and they were seniors, he had the audacity to hit on Leah. He had no qualms telling her that she was the finest girl he had ever laid eyes on, that Sam would never appreciate her the way he could, and that he would satisfy her like no one else ever could. She was floored by the hubris of the scrawny adolescent, and he suffered the beating of his life when Sam heard what he had said.

After graduation, the girls drifted apart. Rebecca and Rachel went to Hawaii for vacation, but only Rachel came home. She had thought Rebecca was coming to Washington State University with her, but Rebecca fell madly in love with a Hawaiian surfer, with the island itself, and the idea of escaping from the shadows of her sister and her mother’s ghost. Rachel was heartbroken but turned her gaze to her future, vowing to build a life for herself that Sarah would have been proud of. Leah drove to Pullman with Billy and Jacob to move Rachel into her dorm.

Sam proposed on a beautiful day in August. Leah turned down an admission to the University of Washington to stay with him. He had also planned to go to the prestigious university, but his life had taken a strange turn when he disappeared for two weeks over the winter and returned several inches taller and a great deal angrier. No one seemed to know what, exactly, had happened, but Leah was so relieved at his return that she didn't push him for answers. She decided to commute to Peninsula College while Sam got a job with the council.

Two years passed. Sam and Leah moved into their own cabin. He began to renovate it, she decorated it, and they set a wedding date. Leah studied like crazy and was admitted into the nursing program, grateful that Rachel had taught her chemistry. She missed her old friends because Rebecca never came home, and Rachel visited only rarely, but she had her family, her fiancé, and a promising future. She was happy.

Then her life came apart at the seams.

 

 


	2. Played

Everything changed the day Emily came to visit. Sam was cuddling Leah on their living room couch. Bridal magazines and job applications were spread across the coffee table in front of them, and Leah was trying to find a picture of the flowers that she thought she might carry. Sam was distracting her. They hadn't had much time to plan the wedding. After completing her nursing degree she had spent all her free time studying for her licensing exam, which she just learned she passed. He brushed her hair away from her neck and kissed it with a wet smack. "It's here somewhere, I swear," she said.

He grabbed her before she could reach the issue she wanted. "I believe you." He pulled her back toward him, tucking her into his chest.

"Hey! Now I can't reach it," Leah protested.

He shoved the magazines onto the floor with his foot. "Yep. Now you definitely can't." He nibbled on the tasty skin of her exposed shoulder, pulling down the spaghetti strap of her camisole with his free hand. He kept her captive with his other arm around her waist.

"We need to figure this out!" she laughed as he kissed her newly bared skin.

"Later," he urged against her skin. She was too tempting. How was he supposed to concentrate in something as mundane as flowers when she was wearing that top? He peppered kisses everywhere he could reach.

He heard a smile in her voice. "The last time we tried to talk about the wedding, you hid the folder with all the numbers in it."

He pulled her other strap down and unclasped her bra. "You weren't complaining, though, were you?"

"Because you distracted me!" she protested as he flung her bra across the room. "What are you doing?"

"What does it feel like I'm doing?" He palmed her breasts, massaging her a little harder than he meant to, but she responded with a gasp that shot straight to his groin.

"Distracting me," she answered and halfheartedly tried to remove his hands. But now that he had her, he wasn't letting go. "Is it working?"

Her answer wasn't an answer. "Oh, Sam."

He rolled her underneath him, pinning her to the couch and securing her wrists above her head. He raked his eyes up and down her exposed body. She was gorgeous. "This is better than looking at pictures." He attacked her lips with kisses. "Unless you snuck nudes of yourself into those magazines, I don't want to look at pictures."

He kissed her until she couldn't think straight. She moaned and ran her fingers through his hair, conflicted. What he was doing felt wonderful, but the wedding was only two months away, and they weren't ready. "We have to get this done, though."

He leaned up just far enough to see her, but he didn't let go of her wrists. "Okay. What flowers do you want?" Before she could answer, he lowered himself far enough to take one of her nipples into his mouth.

"Oh god," she groaned. "D-dahlias."

He licked and suckled her hard until she cursed, and then he parted just long enough to ask, "Will they break the budget?"

She looked dazed underneath him. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips were swollen, and her pupils were dilated. He had her exactly where he wanted her. She had forgotten what they were talking about. "What?"

Sam dropped kisses all over her chest. In between, he explained, "The flowers... The dahlias... Will they... break the budget?" Then he scooted up and dropped his head into the crook of her neck and blew a raspberry loudly.

"No!" she giggled. She was terribly ticklish there. "No, no!"

He lifted his head and tickled her ribs. "No, stop it? Or no, we can afford it."

"Oh god!" she laughed hysterically. "Oh no!"

"No? No to what?" He kept tickling her, but this time he also nipped his teeth along her clavicle.

Tears streamed down her cheeks from laughing so hard. "Huh? Oh! Oh, both, I guess."

He released her and abruptly sat back, smirking at her as she reached for him. "Done. What do we need to do, tell the florist?"

She ran her hands up and down his forearms, eyeing his torso and licking her lips unconsciously. He knew she wanted him to take it off almost as much as he wanted to get her completely naked. "Uh, yeah. I kind of thought we'd skip all the extras and just do bouquets for me, Em, and Rachel. I'm assuming Becca can't make it back. The bouquets can mostly be fillers. Then it'll be really cheap."

He smoothed his hands along her flat belly. "You can get more than that if you want, baby." He didn't want her to feel like their day was anything less than spectacular. "You can have whatever you want." It wasn't true, exactly, because his council salary wasn't very large and she refused to allow her parents to spend their money, but he trusted her not to go overboard. She had already picked out a dress, which he hadn't seen but knew to be a simple white sundress instead of an expensive gown. Emily was to be her maid of honor, Rachel a bridesmaid, and they were going to wear black dresses they already owned. He would wear khakis and a dress shirt. She wasn't even making him wear a tie. Their venue was a large gazebo overlooking the ocean, and their reception would be in her parents' backyard. Leah and Emily were making cupcakes instead of buying an expensive wedding cake. So far she had spent almost nothing.

"Good. What I want is you." She had the softest expression on her face as she reached for him.

"Not as much as I want you, LeeLee," he said honestly. This time she distracted him with the sweet taste of her mouth and the sensuous touch of her fingers. He wanted to tease her, build her up until she begged, but once their clothes were discarded and she lay bare before him, he couldn't wait. He pushed inside of her and buried his face in her neck, relishing the sound of her whimper at his intrusion. He managed a deliberate, slow pace so that he could draw out her reaction, loving her sighs in his ear, the smooth slide of her skin against his, the irresistible grip of her sex. He resisted her attempts to rush him until she dug her fingernails into his ass and reminded him that her cousin would show up at any moment, and then he made it his goal to make her cum before they were interrupted. There was nothing better in the world than his beautiful girl falling apart because of him. At the end of every snap of his hips, he added a little grind that made her arch and moan. She cooed and clutched at him and began to shake. He changed his angle, finding the secret spot deep inside her that made her crazy, thrust hard, and held himself there. She reacted just as he hoped, clenching down on him as she cried out his name. He thought he might pass out from the pleasure. He wanted to hold out, but it was impossible. She was too beautiful, too enticing, too sexy, too loving, too much. He managed a guttural, "I love you," as he climaxed.

"I love you too," she whispered after. He knew he was crushing her, but he felt too good to move, and she had him pinned with her legs around his anyway. He hummed as she traced up and down his spine with her finger.

Then they heard the crunch of tires on gravel.

For the rest of his life, with what little remained of him, Sam wished that he hadn't answered the door. Neither of them should have opened it. He should have locked himself in the bedroom and waited until she left. It wouldn't have helped, of course, because he would have seen her that evening, or the day after that, or worse yet, at the wedding. But it didn't stop him from wishing for the impossible.

"Crap!" Leah squeaked and pushed him away. He fell out of her body reluctantly but pulled on his boxers and shorts hurriedly as he realized that Emily had already seen him through the window. Leah ran around the room gathering her discarded clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. "Can you let her in?"

Sam muttered to himself about irritating interruptions and annoying girls as he tried to figure out where his shirt had ended up. He hadn't seen Emily since she left for art school in California years ago. He barely remembered anything about her other than the fact that she had a tendency to stare at him until he was so uncomfortable that he had to leave. He wondered when he and Leah could be alone again. He was more than ready for round two, and he hoped for some privacy, but Emily was planning on staying for the whole weekend. She was going to monopolize Leah, he was sure of it. But she'd have to go to bed eventually, and then he could have Leah all to himself. He would have to make sure she stayed quiet, though, despite how much he loved the sounds she made when he made love to her. He sighed in frustration as a knock sounded on the front door.

"Coming," he called, taking a last, futile look around the room. He hadn't found his shirt, which had gotten shoved under the couch, so he just opened the door. Emily's jaw dropped open as she stared at his bare torso. He really wished he had found his shirt, and he felt deeply uncomfortable as he greeted her. Then she looked into his eyes, and something broke apart inside of him. He froze as he tried to gather himself, but by the time he regained the power of speech, the shattered pieces of his soul had fused back together in a disordered jumble, creating a stranger in his place.

X-x-x-x-X

He hid in the bedroom while Leah and Emily talked in the kitchen. He sat on the bed and looked at his hands, turning them over and back. Did they belong to him? He told his toes to wiggle, and they did. But why didn't they feel like his feet? He stared in the mirror above the dresser and examined himself. He raised one hand, and his reflection did the same. He put it back down. He didn't know what to do, so he did nothing. A small voice, his voice, he thought, said something in his brain. It sounded like it was yelling. But Her Voice drowned everything out. He stood still.

He listened to the conversation floating down the hallway. He heard two voices. One was as familiar to him as the back of his own hand. But the back of his hand wasn't familiar at all, or it didn't feel like it anyway. The other was... The Voice. Everything faded away except The Voice. He sat on the bed with a blank mind until The Voice named him. Oh, that was him. Sam. Samuel. Samuel Levi Uley. He had forgotten. His feet carried him to the kitchen.

She was there. She was there, staring at him, and he couldn't take his eyes off Her. A second passed, or a minute, or an hour. "Sam?" What was that? "Sammy?" There it was again. "Baby, are you okay?"

Somewhere inside, he recognized the sound of his own voice. He was screaming. He opened his mouth. Instead of a scream, out came, "Emily."

The Voice answered, "Yes?" Emily's eyes widened as she looked at him. "Sam?"

Inside he screamed louder. He cleared his throat. "Leah, you need to leave," he heard a male voice say. Where did it come from?

Leah chuckled uncomfortably. She didn't think he was serious. "Excuse me?"

He looked deep into Emily's eyes, and he saw his answer. Something deep inside him raged. "You heard me. You need to go. I need to talk to Emily."

"You what?" Leah didn't understand at all. The voice inside him started crying out her name.

But Emily's eyes held him fast. They didn't look away from each other. "You need to leave. You're not welcome here anymore." The speech sounded shockingly like his voice. A stranger's voice.

"I'm not... What?" Leah stood up and moved between him and Emily, blocking his view. A large, calloused hand reached out and pushed her to the side so that he could see Her eyes.

Oh yes. This was his voice. Or Her voice. It didn't matter. There was no difference. "You heard me. It's over. The wedding's off. It's over. We're over."

The screaming inside him turned into an anguished wail. Leah reached out for him, but he smoothly stepped out of the way. "Sammy, what are you talking about? Two hours ago you were telling me to get whatever flowers I wanted for the wedding. This morning you said you wanted your friend Jared to be the DJ at our reception. What are you talking about?"

He looked into Her eyes, and they were glittering. A little smile tugged at the corner of Her lip. They spoke. "I'm sorry." He didn't look at Leah. She wasn't really there. No one else was there, just Her. "I didn't mean to hurt you. But it's over." No one else existed anywhere, so it didn't matter if they got hurt. The voice inside his mind, the one screaming her name, begging to be heard, was slowly strangled.

He wasn't sure what happened after that. At some point, he was truly alone. He sat down and waited for Her to come back.

X-x-x-x-X

 

 

 


	3. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks to my fabulous beta, Babs81410, who has generously agreed to take time out of her busy schedule to proofread yet another story.

Leah moved back into her parents' house, bewildered and heartbroken. She tried to call him, but he wouldn't answer. The next day she found her things on her front porch, some neatly stacked in boxes, others tossed haphazardly into garbage bags. She left them there and returned to her childhood bedroom to cry, but then she remembered losing her virginity to Sam in that bed and went to the cliffs instead, staring at the ocean and taking comfort in its wild beauty.

She walked around in a daze similar to the strange blank place where Sam had recently found himself. His pain, though, was deep and gnawing. He could not recognize it, anesthetized as he was. She had no such protection. Her pain was at the surface. But she did have her family, her loving parents and her brother, while Sam barely remembered his own mother. Emily drew him in like a moth to a flame, and he was consumed, incinerated by the fire.

Leah reached out to Emily for support, and at first she received it. But that only lasted for a matter of days. After that, Leah couldn't even find her. Emily had ostensibly gone home to Neah Bay, but she wasn't picking up her phone. Her mother didn't seem to know where she was. Leah worried that something had happened to her until she got a cryptic voicemail from Emily wishing her the best, but that was all. Leah wondered if she had fallen into the same black hole where Sam had disappeared.

Instead, the only person she could reach was someone she hadn't seen in months. She received kind words from Rachel when she called to tell her the wedding was off. They had seen each other rarely since Rachel left for school, but during holidays when Rachel came home, they fell back into their friendship as if they had never been separated. Rachel had been through a breakup of her own a few months before, and they commiserated over their shared heartbreak. Although Rachel had not dated her boyfriend Nick nearly as long as Leah was with Sam, not even so long as the engagement had lasted, her breakup was just as traumatic. She had come home early one day to discover her roommate Cassie in bed with Nick. She had tossed his clothes out the front door and ended the relationship on the spot. He promised to be faithful, said that he would do anything to get her back, and begged her forgiveness. She told Leah that she was more interested in preserving her self-respect then she was about assuaging his guilt, and she refused to talk to him again. Her roommate slunk out of their apartment and Rachel didn't let her back in. She told Leah that eventually she realized that the man she thought she was in love with had never existed, but Leah didn't feel the same way about Sam. She had known him too long and too well to believe that everything he ever told her was a lie. If anything, this new Sam was the liar. But Rachel urged her to look forward, not back. Leah took her words to heart and tried to put Sam out of her mind. She couldn't do it yet, but she could imagine doing it someday, and that reassured her. She took her engagement ring off that day.

Any progress she made was reversed when she learned that a bear mauled Emily three weeks later. For a few minutes she forgot all about her own problems and rushed to her cousin's side. What she found rocked her to her core. Sam was sitting at Emily's bedside kissing her hand and murmuring words of love into her ear.

Was she imagining things, or was Emily smirking at her from across the room? Leah convinced herself that it could not be true. Her expression could not properly be read through her bandages. She fled the room before Sam noticed her, but she felt Emily's eyes on her retreating back. That night she called Rachel, who sighed and asked her if she had really not noticed how jealous Emily had always been of her relationship with Sam. Leah still refused to believe it. Emily was her best friend. It wasn't possible.

Then she found out that Emily moved into the cabin that she had so recently shared with Sam as soon as she was discharged. She was sleeping in the bed Leah had bought, on sheets that Leah had picked out, with Leah's fiancé. On the day Leah was supposed to get married to Sam, she learned they had gotten engaged.

For days, every time Leah woke up, she hoped that she would realize it was all a nightmare. Instead she found herself in her childhood bed instead of the queen she shared with Sam, and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep. One day while lying in bed staring at the ceiling, she overheard one half of a conversation that floored her. Her father was on the phone with someone, saying, "I know that, but she's my daughter! What do you expect me to say? He broke her heart!" There was a long pause. "She's my baby girl, and she's hurting. If it was one of your kids involved, how do you think you'd handle it? You'd tell them the truth! Don't try to tell me otherwise!" After a second, he slammed the phone down in the cradle with a curse. When she asked him what he was talking about, he couldn't meet her eyes, and he mumbled a non-answer and shuffled off. When he kept avoiding her gaze, she was certain he knew something he wasn't telling her, about Sam no less, and this time, it wasn't even for her own good. That knowledge hurt her almost as badly as Sam's betrayal, almost as badly as Emily's. If she couldn't count on her own parents, could she ever count on anyone? She wanted to go home, but apparently the cabin wasn't her home anymore. She didn't know where she belonged. She was adrift.

She couldn't stay here, not when she saw a reminder of Sam at every turn. Not when she looked at her own front porch and remembered Sam standing on it nervously holding a bunch of wildflowers to give her. Not when she drove to the community center only to pass the bench where he first kissed her. Not when she walked through the woods for solace only to see the "SU + LC" Sam had carved into a tree when they were fifteen. Not when she walked by the beach only to pass the spot where he proposed. Not when she pulled up to the general store to see Sam exiting with Emily on his arm, not when she had to see him kiss her bright pink scars, not when she saw Emily's smug, gloating smirk aimed right at her over Sam's shoulder.

She didn't believe her own eyes until she heard a voice mutter, "What a bitch," and turned to see Paul Lahote standing next to her car. He glanced at her. "He never deserved you, you know." Before she could respond, he was gone.

What made things worse was that Paul was wrong. Sam had been good to her, just as she had been good to him. It seemed he abruptly stopped loving her for no reason at all. They hadn't been fighting. He hadn't been getting cold feet. Neither of them had distanced themselves in any way from the other. She didn't understand what had happened, and she was beginning to think she never would.

As soon as she got home, she called Rachel in tears. Rachel cursed about Emily's spite, pointing out little signs of jealousy she had seen over the years. Leah realized she was right. She hadn't known it, but Emily had never been her friend. Then Rachel told her, "Screw both of them. He'll learn soon enough what he's gotten himself into, and he'll deserve every ounce of grief she gives him. Let them make each other miserable. Leave them behind and don't look back. You're hot, you're young, you're smart, and you've got a degree. Don't waste it. You don't have to be stuck on the Rez popping out babies."

"But I want babies," Leah sniffed.

"Great! Then get out of La Push so you can meet Mr. Right and get knocked up!" Rachel joked.

Leah wanted to cry again. "I thought I met Mr. Right. I grew up with him. I've never even thought about anyone else."

"I know you did, honey, but Sam obviously wasn't Mr. Right. If he was willing to do that to you, just wait until he does the same to Emily. Be glad you learned his true colors before the wedding and not after. Think about how much worse it would have been if you guys already had a kid! What a disaster!"

Leah took a deep breath. "You're right, you're right. I know it in my brain; my heart just hasn't figured it out yet."

"Of course! You're still there. How are you supposed to get over him when you see him everywhere? Get out of there! Come to Pullman! I've got a room and I need a roommate. I'm not letting Cassie back here, that's for sure. You should come! The market's bigger; it'll be easier to find a job here anyway."

Without thinking, Leah said, "That's… That's not a bad idea."

Rachel immediately sounded excited. "Yes! It's perfect! It'll be great! I can show you the city; you can meet other guys. What's keeping you in La Push? Nothing."

For the first time since the breakup, Leah could imagine something else. Something better. "You know, I really wanted to go to school to be a nurse practitioner, not just an RN. I kind of stopped gave up on it when I thought we were staying here for good, since there's no way to get the training here, but maybe… I think State has a program. Maybe I could get in. Or at least get my bachelor's. The associate’s degree is only ever going to get me so far."

"That's it! That's perfect! You have to!"

And so she did. She didn't hesitate. There really was nothing keeping her in La Push. Her family would miss her, as she would them, but her parents had been disappointed when she turned down her admission to the University of Washington in favor of staying with Sam. Her mother, in particular, encouraged her to pursue a bachelor's degree so that she could then apply for a Master's program. She wanted to see her daughter succeed.

The very next week she packed her things into her old Toyota and said goodbye to her family. When she received a call from Sam's number as she was pulling away, she felt nauseous when it wasn't Sam calling to say goodbye or wish her well, it was Emily calling to say that they never meant to hurt Leah, that there was nothing she or Sam could have done to prevent what had happened, that it was fate, that as far as she was concerned, they were still friends, and she hoped there were no hard feelings between the two of them. Leah hung up on her without answering.

X-x-x-x-X

Pullman was a relief, and Rachel was a godsend. Leah was busy. Her parents were happy to cover her rent, but she didn't want to be reliant on them. She immediately began to look for a job. She also hoped to transfer to Washington State University during the winter semester since it was too late to apply for the fall, and she began to work on her application. If left to her own devices, she might have otherwise holed up in the apartment. Rachel wasn't about to let that happen. She made it her mission to take care of Leah, watching over her when she needed it, listening when Leah needed sympathy, and giving her tough love when the situation called for it. She took Leah everywhere whether or not she wanted to go. She signed her up for her kick boxing class, and Leah discovered an immense pleasure in trying to pound the stuffing out of a punching bag. She brought Leah to her book group even though Leah hadn't read the books. She dragged her out to shop for new bikinis, and then to their apartment complex's pool. She set a goal of taking Leah for a drink at every one of the town's bars. That was when she realized just how hopelessly naïve her new roommate was. Leah thought she was making friends when men asked her for her number, and seemed to have no idea that they were looking for something else. When Rachel told her how beautiful she was, she thought her friend was just being nice and didn't see it at all. She didn't think she was ugly, nor was she fishing for compliments. She was just too used to her own reflection to notice anything special about it.

She was no more aware when they started frequenting a dance club. Other than school functions, where she spent most of her time swaying in place with Sam, Leah had never been dancing. When Rachel cajoled her into going for the first time, she discovered that she loved it. She could pretend she was sexy, desirable, and confident, things she didn't feel but could imagine herself to be. Something about the throbbing bass and rhythmic beat centered her. She moved without thought, letting the music take control of her body. She honestly didn't notice the stares she garnered; she had had enough of the world and turned her attention inward. When Rachel pointed out the way men stared at her, she insisted they were looking at Rachel, not at her. She moved between dance partners like a leaf blowing in the wind, passing from one set of male arms to the next. But she never went home with them. She knew she wasn't ready. Rachel was a firm believer that the best way to get over someone was to get under someone else, but they both knew it was true for her but not for Leah. Leah didn't want to sleep with anyone until she was confident she wouldn't be thinking about Sam the whole time.

She still felt crippled by what had happened. No matter how attractive, how funny, how kind, or how interesting, every man fell into the category of Not Sam. He had been a part of her identity for so long that she didn't know how to define herself without him. She was so used to being half of a whole that she did not feel complete by herself. It wasn't just that he was her lover or her fiancé. In reality, it was he who had been her best friend since childhood, not Rachel, not Rebecca, and most definitely not Emily. She was used to telling him about her day, listening to him talk about his, making him laugh, and commiserating about their lives. Being without him wasn't just lonely; it felt foreign and wrong. He had been a huge part of her life, and his absence was a great void that she didn't know how to fill. Worse yet, she still had no idea what had happened. Had she been too clingy? She had never pushed for marriage, and he was the one who proposed and pressed to set a date. Was she actually too aloof? That couldn't be it; she was thrilled to spend the rest of her life with him and he knew it. Had she been unkind or neglectful? She was busy in the weeks leading up to final exams and her licensing test, but she had always set aside time for him, and he broke up with her after things settled down. Was he not attracted to her? His behavior on the day he ended things said otherwise, and they generally couldn't keep their hands off each other. Did she miss any signs of what was to come? Certainly things had never quite returned to normal after he disappeared. He worked at night sometimes, and she had yet to figure out exactly what he did. She knew there was something he had been keeping from her. It was the only thing they fought about. Maybe he had been going to see Emily the entire time. But she still didn't know. That was the worst part. She didn't understand, and she felt completely powerless. He wouldn't tell her what happened, so how could she have prevented it? She hated being so out of control.

It didn't help that Emily kept calling her. She never picked up the phone, but Emily would leave long, rambling voicemails consisting of half-hearted non-apologies about Sam being her soulmate and claiming to miss Leah's friendship. Sam never called, and Leah wondered if it was possible that he had completely forgotten her. She couldn’t understand how he had dropped her so abruptly. She wondered if he knew that Emily kept calling. Leah finally blocked her number.

She was so grateful to Rachel for being a shoulder to lean on, an ear to listen, and a smile to remind her she wasn't alone. Slowly but surely, things got better. A month after moving, she found work in the pediatric wing of the local hospital. She fell in love with the job, and more specifically, with the kids. She discovered she had a knack for calming frightened parents and children alike. She was good at being strict when she needed to be or being loving and gentle if the situation called for it. She had a sharp memory and could juggle a dozen tasks at once. Emergency situations didn't phase her; she was able to focus on her job and play her role on a team seamlessly. In this way she gained a confidence that was new to her. She developed a facet of her identity that was hers and hers alone.

She also made new friends at work. No longer did she rely on Rachel as her sole support. She worked the night shift with a stable group of other nurses, clerks, and techs, and they came to know each other intimately. She often accepted their invitations to a local diner for breakfast after their shifts were over. She told them a little about her past, but mostly she avoided talking about Sam, Emily, and the abrupt nature in her change of circumstance. Because of that, her coworkers didn't look at her with pity. They thought she was a confident, hard-working, smart, and friendly young woman, not Sam's discarded lover. She realized that she liked the person they thought she was, and she thought that someday, this persona might actually become her reality.

In November, things really began to turn around. She received an admission to WSU, and even better, most of her credits would transfer. The first thing she did was to call her mother, who was even more excited than she was. Then Rachel took her out to celebrate. They went to their favorite Thai restaurant for dinner, their neighborhood pub for drinks, and the club to dance the night away.

As usual, Leah attracted the attention of most of the men in the building. But for the first time, she actually noticed it for what it was. At first she stuck close to Rachel, but she rapidly realized that that only increased the stares; Rachel was stunning, and the two of them made a striking pair. She headed to the bar to take a break and rehydrate. When she turned around with her pint, a stranger was blocking her exit and smiling down at her. She noticed his bright, white teeth before seeing anything else, and something about his smile drew her in. Then she took in the rest of him. He was a head taller than she, had a complexion the color of dark chocolate, and closely cropped black hair. He introduced himself as Adetayo, and she was immediately charmed by his accent. The fluttering in her stomach startled her so much that she actually put her hand over her belly, and he asked her if she was alright. She stammered that she was, and for the first time in months, she felt like she wasn't lying at all when she said it.

Two nights later, Leah went on her first date with a man that wasn't Sam Uley. He took her to a fancy restaurant that she couldn't have afforded on her own. At first she felt awkward, underdressed, and out of place, and then she remembered that her job had taught her how to talk to strangers, and she put on her workplace persona. She asked him about himself and made appropriate comments when the timing was right, and gradually she relaxed. She surprised herself by having a good time. He was funny, interesting, and seemed genuinely interested in her. She learned that Adetayo was only in town for another month. At the end of the semester, he would be returning home to Nigeria. It was simultaneously a disappointment and a relief. On the one hand, she genuinely enjoyed his company, and she would soon be deprived of it. On the other hand, his imminent departure took all the pressure off the situation. She was able to completely relax. She even enjoyed the gentle kiss he gave her at the end of the night. Inevitably, she compared it to Sam's. Although she didn't find it lacking, he picked up on her hesitance and didn't ask for more.

After that, they saw each other every few days. Their conversations lengthened, they learned one another's sense of humor, and their kisses became more heated. But they didn't move beyond that, because Leah had never viewed sex casually, and that hadn't changed. A month after meeting him, Leah gave him a ride to the airport, and they said their farewells in front of the security line. He kissed her until she was dizzy and expressed his regret that he had to leave. There was nothing for it, though, so she hadn't allowed herself to get too invested in him. It seemed he had not done quite so good job of separating his emotions. Still, they agreed to keep in touch, and then they said goodbye.

As Leah walked away, she knew that she would miss him, but more than that, she felt proud of herself for what she had done. She knew she wasn't over Sam yet, not by a longshot, but she knew she was much closer to being okay. Better yet, she realized she had learned a valuable lesson. She had grown up with the romantic, girlish belief that there was one person and one person only in the universe made for her, one person who was her perfect match. And she thought it was Sam Uley. Adetayo had opened her eyes to the truth. Not only were there other men in the world, but there were others with whom she could fall in love. She hadn't let herself, but had circumstances been different, she knew she might have. Moreover, she might have even built a life with him, and perhaps they could have been happy. The knowledge was revelatory. That very night, she tearfully wrote a letter to Sam detailing all the things she wished she could have said to him had he been willing to talk to her. Since he wasn’t, she sealed it in an envelope, held the lit wick of a candle to the corner, and watched it burn. Then she wrote a second letter to Adetayo thanking him for what he had done for her, and she put it in the mail.

Leah anticipated a lonely holiday season; as the most junior nurse, she would work straight through. Although her family didn't celebrate Christmas in a religious fashion, they still exchanged gifts and enjoyed their time together. Rachel went home to see her father and brother; she was disappointed that Rebecca still hadn't made the trip back, and she felt guilty for leaving Leah behind, but Leah insisted she see her family.

Leah felt herself backsliding during Rachel's absence, missing her roommate, Adetayo, her parents, and her brother. She didn't bother putting up any decorations, unable to muster the energy. The most she could force herself to do was buy presents for her family and ship them home. As she drove back to her apartment after a long and exhausting night shift Christmas morning, she couldn't help but remember her last Christmas, waking up wrapped in Sam's arms while it was still dark, making love as the sun rose, and then heading to her parents' house to exchange presents before hosting Christmas dinner for both their families. She had slightly overcooked the ham, but Sue's side dishes were great, and everyone had a wonderful time. She got sick to her stomach knowing that Emily had taken her place this year. As she passed her local pub on her way home, she wished it was open so she could get drunk enough to fall asleep before she had to go back to the hospital. She hadn't planned well enough to stock her liquor cabinet; all she had at home were two beers.

She was so upset that she didn't notice the music wafting from behind her closed apartment door, but as soon as she opened it, her brother nearly tackled her into the opposite wall with a tight hug. "Merry Christmas, Lee!" She looked behind Seth to see her parents standing in front of a fully decorated pine tree with presents in their hands. Leah couldn't remember the last time she was so relieved.

The entire family stayed for six days. Sue was working New Year's Eve, but Harry's office was closed for the holiday, and Seth had nothing to do until school started again. Sue took Leah "back to school shopping", and Harry had breakfast waiting for her at the end of every night shift. Seth brought his Wii and roundly beat Leah playing Mario Kart until she got used to the steering controls, and then she gave him real competition. By the time they left, she was looking forward to starting classes, and Rachel had returned.

When the semester started, she was too busy to be depressed. She had classes every weekday plus overnight shifts every Friday and Saturday night. She studied like crazy during the week to compensate for her lack of weekend time, and it somewhat limited her social life. But Rachel refused to let her live in the library, and she made new friends in her classes. She also finally recognized men's attraction for what it was; no longer did she miss basic cues or mistake offers to get coffee for overtures of friendship.

After her experience with Adetayo, she even had the courage to accept some of their offers. One was a terrible failure that she turned into a funny story with which to entertain Rachel. Another she thought would make a better friend than boyfriend, which he didn't agree with at all. The third, Jonathan, she wanted to see again. He didn't quite make her stomach flutter the way Adetayo had, but she found his bright blue eyes pleasantly distracting, and he could make her laugh. They were supposed to have dinner and see a movie, but they liked talking to each other so much that they never made it to the movie. It was a good beginning, and she looked forward to a second date. He invited her back to his apartment, which she declined. She didn't feel ready for anything other than kissing. She still involuntarily compared his touch to Sam's, and she didn't think it was fair to him. Her work schedule helped her on this front; she had a shift that very night, so she didn't have to come up with an excuse in order to turn him down. They set another date for two weeks later; she was heading home for mid-winter break, and they would see each other when she got back.

As she drove west, she became increasingly nervous. She couldn't figure out how to feel when she passed the sign at the side of the road welcoming her to Forks. Memories rushed at her, overwhelming her in a way that had not happened since she had left. Tears pricked at her eyes when she passed the floral shop where she would have purchased her wedding bouquet, but she did not let them fall. But when she arrived in La Push and passed the turn off that led to the cabin she shared with Sam, there was no holding them back. She had to pull over on the side of the road because she wasn't safe to drive. She hadn't wept over him in months, so all her emotions came pouring forth. It wasn't until an old black sedan slowed down and stopped in the shoulder in front of her that she gathered herself together. She hurriedly put her car back into gear and pulled back onto the road, glancing in embarrassment into the interior of the other car as she passed. Paul Lahote sat there watching her pass by.

By the time she parked in her parents’ driveway, her tears had dried, but her eyes were still puffy and red. Her mother enveloped her in a comforting hug as soon as she walked in the door. She couldn't say she was glad to be home, but she was definitely glad to see her family. Unfortunately, while Seth and Sue were simply glad of her presence, something else hid behind her father's eyes. He disappeared unexpectedly in the evening, claiming tribal business, and neither Sue nor Seth knew quite what he was doing. She was even more suspicious on the second night she was home. The phone rang at two AM, and minutes later the garage door opened and closed. She looked out the window and saw his car pulling away. She was perplexed. When she asked him what he was doing the next morning, he gave an evasive answer. That morning she and Seth had started to feel ill, and she didn't have the energy to press him on it. But the next day, when the phone rang and she answered it to find Sam asking for her father, she lost it. Sam hadn't spoken a single word to her since he kicked her out their cabin. Now the only thing he had to say to her was, "Oh, I... I didn't know you were home. Is your father around?"

By now she expected no answers from Sam, but she thought that her father, at least, would tell her what was going on. He made a halfhearted attempt at saying that he still had to talk to Sam about council matters, and she knew he was leaving something out. She was livid. She might have stormed out of the house in a rage had she not felt so ill. Sue pulled her aside in the middle of a rant she was directing at her father. Her mother looked at her flushed skin and placed her hand against her for head. "Sweetheart, you're burning up!" She ran to get a thermometer, and Leah's temperature was up to 104.8. Sue handed her Tylenol, Advil, and sent her to bed. If it weren't for the nightmares that plagued her all night long, dreams of Sam's blank eyes and cold voice, she would have thought she didn't sleep at all. She prayed for the morning to come and bring her relief.

The sun did rise, but the new dawn brought her nothing but torment. She spent the next few days in a delirious, febrile blur. As her temperature climbed, she drifted in and out of consciousness. She was plagued by visions, disjointed and frightening. She saw shadows of huge, imposing, faceless men, of blood, of red eyes, of fear. She heard the sound of screams and wasn't sure if they came from her or from some tormented stranger.

From time to time, voices would break through her confusion and she would hear her parents arguing. Sue wanted to take her and Seth to the hospital, but Harry forbade it. Sue was stunned into silence. He had never said such a thing before, and she wasn't the type of woman to follow an order she thought was senseless. Her children both had temperatures she had never seen before. Moreover, she was afraid that whatever ailed them would be fatal if left untreated. Leah couldn't hear exactly what happened after that, but no one tried to move her. She fell back into a fever dream.

She felt like she was slowly being torn apart, and every inch of her skin was on fire. She was simultaneously ravenous but completely nauseated, and she was unable to hold down anything other than broth. On the rare occasions she tried to leave her bed, her legs wobbled like an infant's, and she fell. The world spun around her, and she felt like her axis had shifted. Her head throbbed, and even the dimmest of lights burned her eyes.

She prayed for it to end, but when it finally did, she wished the physical pain would return and drown out her emotional pain.

X-x-x-x-X

 

 

 


	4. Family

Leah was having a passing moment of lucidity. She had no idea what day it was, nor what time. She reached with one sore arm to pull aside the curtain, and from the look of the sky, it was early morning. A light rain pattered against her window, but the sound was like machine-gun fire in her ears. She reached for her phone, checking the date, and in a panic realized that she needed to go to work. Three days had slipped by without her knowledge.

She was coordinated enough to rise from the bed and walk, but not coherent enough to formulate good judgment. She decided that if she left immediately, she could make it back to Pullman in time to begin her shift. She glanced at her suitcase, which was in disarray, and hastily began to shove clothing into it. Her father appeared in the doorway. "Leah? What are you doing?"

"I've got to go, dad. I'm due at work in just a few hours."

He approached her and examined her closely. "You think you can work like this? You're very sick, honey." He put his hand to her forehead.

The touch irritated her, and she batted his hand away. "Quit it! I'm fine!"

But she clearly was not. Harry tried to reason with her. "You're still burning up. There is no way you can operate heavy machinery like your car, let alone get all the way back to the other side of the state. And going to work? Not possible."

"They're counting on me," she insisted stubbornly. "I haven't missed a single shift since I've taken this job, and I'm not about to start now."

He tried to appeal to her sense of responsibility. "Let's just say you could get back. You still have a terrible fever. Would you want to give whatever it is you've got to those kids you take care of? You've got to be contagious!"

For some reason, she couldn't stand being contradicted. She knew she was being irrational, but she absolutely had to get out of the house. "You think you know better than me? I'm a nurse! You think you know better than I do?"

He held his hands up in an attempt to placate her. "Of course you're an excellent nurse. But you're confused. You're sick, and you're not thinking straight."

Now she thought he was patronizing her, and it filled her with inexplicable rage. "Screw you!" She slammed the lid of her suitcase down, but it wouldn't close. Too many things were sticking out of it. She wanted to tear it apart in frustration. "I know exactly what I'm doing!"

As he tried to calm her, she frantically mashed the suitcase closed and yanked it up. Then she stormed down the stairs. Harry followed her, asking for Sue's help as he passed their bedroom.

"Lee?" Seth sat up groggily from where he had been lying on the couch. "What's going on?"

"I'm leaving," she answered, reaching for the doorknob.

Sue's voice rang out from the top of the stairs. "No you are not, young lady! You're in no shape to go anywhere. Get back in bed."

"You can't tell me what to do!" she yelled back petulantly. "I'm not a child anymore!" Her father reached out to take the suitcase out of her hand. She yanked it back, snarling, "Quit it! You don't want me here anyway! You won't tell me what the hell is going on, and you can hardly look me in the eye. I'll make it easy for you and leave! I'll go back where I'm wanted."

Harry got a hand on the strap. "Of course I want you here," he said gently.

But Leah wasn't listening. In fact, she could hardly hear what he was saying. The blood rushing through her ears sounded like a hurricane. It felt like a thousand spiders were crawling all over her body. She had to get outside. She yanked the suitcase back, but he maintained his grip. "God damn it, let go!"

When it was clear that he wouldn't, she abruptly released the handle, and he fell backward, the suitcase landing on his chest. Sue was horrified. "Leah! What did you just do?"

"What I had to! I'm going to be late!" She began to tremble. A fuse was burning inside her. She could feel it.

As Harry set aside the suitcase and stood, he answered firmly, "No you're not. Your mom called Rachel, and she put me us touch with the hospital."

"I told them you're too sick to come in," Sue explained. "In fact, you're too sick to stay here, you and your brother both. I know what a sick patient looks like, and I can't get your fevers down. I'm taking you to the hospital. Both of you."

Harry glanced at Seth with a worried expression. "That's not necessary. You can take care of them at home," he insisted.

"I'm not doing a very good job of it so far, am I?" Sue threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Doesn't matter," Leah snapped. She couldn't see straight. Her vision blurred, and she thought every cell in her body would rupture. Her trembling turned into violent shaking. "I'm not going to this hospital; I'm going to my own. I'm out of here." She gave up on her suitcase. She would drive back without it. She started to open the front door, but her father reached around her to shove it closed again, and she lost it.

Leah exploded, slamming into her father. She landed on her hands and knees. She screamed, but all she heard was a terrible howl. She looked up to find the source of the awful sound, and she saw Seth fall backward, landing on the floor. He began to scramble away from her. She heard a second scream, and she turned to see her mother shrieking. Then she registered what was happening to her father. He had collapsed to the floor, clutching at his chest.

She heard a voice. _Shit, who's that? What the hell is going on?_ _Is that Harry Clearwater?_ A vision appeared in her mind. It was twilight, and there was a forest. What was she seeing?

She turned around frantically, looking for the source of the unfamiliar voice and seeing the dual, impossible visions, one of the interior of her house, the other of the mysterious forest. As she did so, she tripped over her own feet. She looked down. Instead of feet and hands, she saw grey fur, huge paws, and deadly claws. She screamed again, and once more she heard the terrifying howl.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god..." That was her mother.

Then a third vision appeared, and with it, a new feeling of terror. She saw another view of the inside of her own house, Harry on the floor, and Sue bending down to him. Above them loomed a huge grey wolf. She felt another presence, but this one did not use recognizable words. Instead she saw impossible pictures that could not be real.

_Hey, whoever the hell you are, calm down and get out of there!_ the other voice spoke.

Leah looked up to see Sue trying to drag Harry away. She shook her head to try to clear her vision. She was seeing this twice from two different perspectives, and the forest was still rushing past. Her father had turned bright red and was gasping for air. He was covered in a sheen of sweat, and his eyes were huge. Worse than that, approaching them was another wolf, a light brown one even bigger than the last. Leah fell backward trying to get out of its way.

_Seth? Is that you?_ the other voice asked.

The light brown wolf started to bark, and from somewhere unknown she heard Seth say, _Yeah, it's me!_

She couldn't see her brother anywhere. Where had Seth gone? _Seth? Where are you?_ she asked. Simultaneously she heard more barking, but the brown wolf's mouth hadn't moved.

Leah twisted around again, looking for the sources of the sounds. She saw the larger wolf turn around as well. She didn't know what was going on, but she would use its distraction to help her father, who was beginning to turn purple. She reached out her hand, placing it on his wrist to check his pulse. She tore right through his shirtsleeve. Her mother screamed at her to back away, throwing herself protectively over Harry. She would have been hurt by her mother's actions, but she was too stunned by the claw in front of her face. Then the other wolf slammed into her side, sending her crashing into the small table by the front door, smashing it to pieces.

_Get away from my dad!_ Seth screamed as the brown wolf began to snarl. Leah looked about frantically, trying to spot him, and she tried to shove the wolf off her.

The voice yelled, _Get outside! For the love of god, get outside! Break the door down if you have to, but get outside!_

_Who are you?_ she demanded. _What's going on?_

_It's me! It's Paul!_ the voice answered.

At the same time she heard her brother. _Seth! I'm Seth!_

She took a swipe at the light brown wolf, who reared back before she could land a blow. As she stared at the paw moving in front of her, she slowly realized it belonged to her. She tried to ignore the vision of the forest rushing past her eyes.

Seth called out, _Paul? Lahote? Where are you? I can't see you!_

_I can't see either of you!_ Leah cried, stumbling away from the brown wolf and her parents cowering on the floor. She couldn't see past her mother's body, but she heard her father gasping for air.

_Get out of the house!_ Paul yelled again. _Do it now, and I'll meet you outside. I'll explain everything, I promise, but get out before you hurt someone!_

The brown wolf looked between the door and Sue and Harry. _How?_ Seth asked plaintively.

_Seth?_ Leah asked. She was beginning to understand.

The sandy wolf looked back at her. _Lee?_

_Leah? Leah Clearwater?_ They heard the disbelief in Paul's voice. _That isn't possible._

She screamed, _No shit! None of this is possible! Tell us what the hell is going on!_

Paul lost what little patience he had, and he growled, _Get outside now! Break down the god damned door. Now!_

Leah blinked at Seth, and then she flung herself at the door. It splintered upon impact, and then she was on the porch and in the yard. She heard Seth running out behind her, and she saw a vision of a grey wolf running into the yard. That must be her.

_Yeah, that's it. That's you,_ Paul explained. _I'm coming to get you guys, I promise. Get into the woods behind your house before someone sees you._

Leah took one look back into her house. Her father was lying still on the floor, and her mother had run to the phone to call 911. _But, our dad!_

_Get into the woods now!_ Paul insisted. _You can't help him, not like this. You'll only make things worse. Move!_

Leah obeyed, and Seth followed behind.They cowered in the woods, staring in terror into their house. They couldn't see anything, but they heard it when Sue got on the line with the emergency dispatcher. They didn't know whether to be more terrified about what was going on inside or what was happening to them.

_Paul? Why can I hear you? Why can we hear each other? Where are you?_ Leah asked.

He answered, _I'm coming to you. Just hold on. Can you see where I am? You can tell I'm running, right?_

Seth answered, _Yeah, that's you, huh?_

_Uh huh._

_How can we hear you when you're so far away?_ Leah repeated.

_It's so we can keep in touch, communicate properly, when we're wolves._

_Wolves?_ Seth asked, pacing back and forth in agitation, glaring warily between the house and Leah.

_I know it sounds unbelievable,_ Paul answered.

Leah insisted, _It's not unbelievable. It means I've gone certifiably insane. I've lost my mind! You can't both be in my brain like this, and we're not wolves, we're people!_

_We are people,_ Paul clarified, _but we're also shifters. Do you remember the legends? About being descended from wolves? About Taha Aki and his sons?_

_That's what's going on?_ Seth asked as he recalled the stories that Billy told by firelight.

As Paul tried to answer, Leah snapped, _No! None of this is happening. But that's probably why I'm dreaming this all up. My subconscious must have locked onto that. I'm still sick, lying in bed, hallucinating. That's all that's going on._ She desperately wanted it to be true, not only because she could not have imagined the horrifying scenario in which she found herself, but because of what was happening inside.

Sue was murmuring, "No, no, no... Harry!" Then they heard sobbing. "Do not do this! Damn it! Harry!"

Leah started heading toward the house again. She had to know what was going on. _I have to help!_

_You can't do anything to help right now!_ Paul told her. _You're only going to make things worse!_

_I have to see!_ She went around the side of the building and peered in the window. What she saw would haunt her for the rest of her life. Her mother was kneeling over her father, weeping as she performed chest compressions. Harry was turning blue, and his eyes were wide and sightless.

_Daddy!_ She and Seth yelled at the same moment.

_I have to help them!_ Leah insisted.

_Don't!_ Paul yelled. _Get back into the woods!_

Leah didn't listen. She tried to go back to the front door, but another voice rang out. _Stop!_ it commanded. Another vision of a different section of forest rushed past her eyes.

Leah fell to the ground as she recognized the voice. She would know him anywhere. For just one second, she felt a little better. Sammy was here, and he would help. And then the past few months came back to her, and her heart sank into her stomach. _Oh my god, what's going on now?_

Seth took a few more seconds to figure out what was happening. _Who is that now?_

_Back away from the house!_ Sam ordered Leah. She felt herself stand and slink backward. It was the strangest sensation she had ever felt. She didn't want to go back, she wanted to help her parents. But there was nothing she could do.

_Oh god. Oh god. Oh god._

When she reached the forest's edge, she heard Sam again. _Stop when you're inside the tree line where you can't be seen._ She froze, trembling. _Tell me what's going on, Paul._

Yet another vision appeared, this one of the beach. A new voice said, _Hey, what's going on, guys? Oh, man. Did Seth phase?_

_Who are you?_ Seth asked.

Now Leah was convinced. This could not be real. She had lost her mind. All the voices in her head were a surefire sign of schizophrenia, were they not? Or if she was lucky, she was delirious. She would wake up in her bed soon, and maybe she wouldn't even remember this dream. If she was unlucky, her illness would take her soon, but that would still be preferable to this.

_Seth phased,_ Paul explained. _But not just Seth._

_Wait, who is that?_ Sam asked.

_It's Leah,_ Paul stated flatly. Somehow Leah could sense his hesitation in telling Sam.

The unidentified voice was incredulous. _What? Not possible._

_Of course it isn't. You're mistaken, Paul. Girls don't phase._ Sam directed his thoughts at her. _Tell me who you are._

She didn't want to talk to him. Of all the people in the world, he was the last one she wanted in her brain. She said nothing, instead turning her attention to a rustling noise off to her left. Seth looked as well, and a dark silver wolf emerged from the brush. _Oh, shit,_ she thought. It was the most ferocious looking thing she had ever seen.

The silver wolf didn't want to frighten them and halted its approach. _It's okay, Leah, Seth. I'm Paul. Paul Lahote. I'm not going to hurt you. None of us are._

Seth didn't find that reassuring at all. _How many are you?_

_You guys make six and seven. There's me,_ Sam explained, _Paul, Jared Cameron, Embry..._

The other voice interrupted, _Hi, guys. Uh, welcome, I guess._

Sam continued, _And Jacob Black. We're the protectors of the tribe. Do you remember the old stories? The legends about Taha Aki inhabiting the body of a wolf? Of his sons being able to become wolves as well? That's us. We're the sons, uh, the descendants, I mean, of Taha Aki. We're shapeshifters._

Suddenly, Leah's thoughts coalesced. Sam's disappearance senior year of high school suddenly made sense. His growth spurt, his sudden bulk of muscle, and all the times he ever left in the night without a good explanation. _Oh my god..._

She felt Sam's attention shift to her thoughts. He was confused. She could sense that her memories seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't quite get a grasp on them. His attention was focused on her. _Wait, who are you?_ He slowed in his approach as he tried to picture her. She realized he was struggling to remember what she looked like. He was trying to remember who she was.

Had he forgotten her? Had he forgotten everything about them? Her heart threatened to break all over again. It was one thing for him to break up with her, to stop loving her. But to forget who she was? They had spent years together, and not long ago they had been everything to each other.

He saw. He saw visions of the ring he had once given her, felt her memory of sweet kisses, gentle smiles, affectionate laughter, and passionate lovemaking. It was simultaneously familiar and foreign all at once. They were secondhand memories. _Leah? LeeLee? Is that you?_

She didn't know what to say. He really had forgotten her altogether. _Yeah. It's me. Me and Seth._

But before they could do anything else, the wailing of a siren interrupted their thoughts. Seth, Leah, and Paul turned toward the house. An ambulance backed into the driveway, and Leah stopped listening to the voices in her head, stopped paying attention to the other visions in her mind, stopped caring about whether she had gone insane. She focused all her attention on her father.

She heard a man ask her mother how long she had been performing CPR. A woman talked about setting up a monitor and running an IV. The man said he couldn't find a pulse, and her mother snapped that that was why she was performing CPR before apologizing to the paramedic. Her mother shakily spoke of Harry's collapse and gave them his medical history. She heard shuffling, a pause that stretched on forever, and then her mother made a choking nose. The woman murmured the word, "Asystole."

The paramedics did everything they could to resuscitate Harry. After an eternity, they wheeled him into the ambulance on a stretcher.

_They'll take care of him. They'll fix this at the hospital_ , Seth said. He sounded like a frightened child. _He'll be okay, right, Lee?_

_Of course he will,_ she said automatically. But he could read her thoughts. Everyone could. And she knew her father, the man who had loved her more than any other, the person who was prouder of her than anyone else, the person who had always told her she could do anything she wanted, the best man she had ever met, was already dead. And she, in her monstrosity, had killed him.

X-x-x-x-X

 

 

 


	5. Truth

_He's not really gone, is he?_ Embry asked. _He can't be. He's... He's Harry._

Leah shook so hard that she was unable to stand. Tears began to stream uncontrollably from her eyes, and she was horrified to realize that it was matting the fur on her face. _Oh god, this can't be happening. None of this can be happening._

_I'm so sorry._ The huge silver wolf that was Paul approached her slowly. She scampered backward, running into a tree. _Leah, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise._

Leah stared at him in disbelief, glancing between him and the smaller sandy wolf that was supposedly her brother. Seth was shaking as badly as she. Twin urges of fight and flight held her upright, and her indecision between the two forces held her still. She didn't know whether to lunge at the other wolf or run as far away as she could. The only thing that kept her there was Seth, cowering just a few feet away. She wouldn't abandon him, not now. His thoughts were incoherent. He was overwhelmed with terror and grief. She moved toward him, unable to provide any reassuring words. Instead she wrapped her lupine body around his as best she could.

_Leah... Lee... LeeLee?_ As she huddled by Seth, she couldn't help but listen to the others' thoughts. Sam was struggling to unearth buried memories. He replayed the flashes that had appeared in her mind when he appeared, and he tried to connect them to himself. A shorter, slighter version of him holding her hand. A lopsided grin and twinkling eyes. The illicit thrill of stolen kisses. A small, delicate diamond ring, and joyful tears in both their eyes. Severed, abandoned emotions grabbed at him before sliding away. Was that really him?

Leah felt her battered heart thudding painfully in her chest. She wished it would stop, just as Harry's had, so she didn't have to stay here for this. She would follow her father wherever he had gone. If this was the world, she wanted no part in it.

_Don't say that, Lee,_ Seth begged, and she hated that he could hear her thoughts. That anyone could hear her thoughts. Was she stuck this way forever?

Paul snarled, _Are you really going to do this right now, Sam?_

Sam shook himself free of their memories, and she felt his brain snap back in place. He became a stranger once more. He intoned, _There are a lot of things you both need to know. I'm sorry. I know this isn't a good time, but this has to be done, and then we can work on getting you back into your human bodies. You'll learn to phase back just like the rest of us have._

Seth and Leah were suddenly assaulted by jumbled recollections of all three of the invaders. In the background, behind Sam's spoken words, was chaos. There was pain, heat, and burning, just as they had experienced. They saw the destruction of someone's bedroom in one mind. In another, an argument with an older man and a flight into the woods. They couldn't tell which was Embry and which was Paul. But Leah saw a vision of herself, frowning and tearful, standing in her mother's kitchen. She remembered Sam storming out of her house in an inexplicable rage over a meaningless disagreement. He had been gone for two weeks, and when he returned, he was changed. The implications started to coalesce, but she didn't have the capacity to process them amidst the maelstrom of other people's thoughts and memories. She looked to her house, lit brightly but empty inside, and she knew she would find no solace there. She started to cry again, but out came a keening whine instead. She sounded like a dog, not a girl.

Then she heard rustling in the brush nearby, and an enormous black wolf appeared. Her cry died off in her throat. If she found Paul's wolf form frightening, this new wolf was terrifying. He was the size of a bear. Thick cords of muscle showed his power. His teeth looked as sharp as razors, and his claws more deadly than knives. And he had already hurt her more than anyone else ever had.

He locked eyes with her, and her paralysis was broken. The instinct of flight overrode all others. She turned tail and ran. Voices rang in her skull, telling her to come back, to stay still, that she was safe. She didn't believe them. She wasn't safe. Her father wasn't safe. Sam wasn't safe. Now she knew that nothing and nowhere were safe. She hadn't seen Sam's eyes since the day he ended their engagement, so she didn't know until that moment what they looked like. Once they had been so warm, so loving, so bright, and more familiar to her than her own. Although the color was unchanged, as black as his pelt, while the shape remained the same almond tilt that she remembered, something was off. They looked flat, almost dead.

She had never been so frightened in her life. What terrible thing had happened to Sam? What awful force had eaten him from the inside? Was that destruction now coming for her?

She fled. Sam cursed and took chase. Paul took off after him. From wherever he was, Embry urged her to stop. Seth followed uncertainly, not wanting to be left behind. They called after her, asking her to calm down, but they only succeeded in scaring her more. They were a riot in her brain. She could hardly separate their thoughts from her own. Confusion, horror, and grief churned in her gut, making her nauseated. Her heart raced in her chest, and panic overwhelmed her.

_Shit, she's fast,_ one of them said. She thought it might be Embry.

Paul urged, _Slow down! Just let us catch up. It's going to be okay!_

She didn't see how it could be, not if any of this was real. She didn't answer them. She only wanted to get away. She heard them talking about her speed, and she was relieved to hear that they didn't think they could keep up with her. She was getting away.

Then Sam told her, _There's no point in running. This isn't something you can escape. It doesn't matter how fast or how far._

She knew he must be right, but that didn't mean she wanted to turn around. It didn't mean she could handle it. It didn't mean she could bear the clamor of all the strange voices in her head. It didn't mean she could stand to look at the blankness in his eyes.

But then her brother broke through. _Lee? Please don't go._ His voice was quiet and frightened amidst the other wolves' bellows.

She slowed. _Seth? I don't think I can do this, whatever it is._

_Me neither,_ he said. _Can we not do it together?_

She couldn't say no. Suddenly, it didn't matter how devastated she was, how horrified, how afraid, how confused. It didn't matter that the world was not what it seemed, that the people she had known her whole life were not who she thought they were, that she herself was not even human. Her little brother was every bit as afraid as she was. He, too, had just lost his father, had lost his orientation in space and time. It was her job to protect him, to keep him safe. So she stopped and waited.

She realized that she had no idea where she was. She had run blindly, and she was lost in the woods. She turned around, trying to orient herself. But everything looked the same.

Paul told her, _You went northwest. If you kept going, you'd have reached the ocean. Can you smell it? You're close to the cliffs._

He was right. She could tell. _Over this way?_ she asked.

_Yeah._

She started toward it. She didn't want to look into Sam's dead eyes again. When he found her, she was looking at the roiling seas, not at him. In the distance she could see dark sheets of rain merging with the waves. She could feel Sam staring at her, and she could see herself through his eyes. She was an animal.

_Did he know?_ she asked.

She didn't have to explain what she meant. Sam answered, _Yes. He knew._

_Since when?_

Sam struggled to remember. _He... He was the one who found me. He helped me change back._ A faded memory of Harry reaching out to a terrified, animal Sam appeared.

Leah realized her father would not do the same for her, and pain swelled in her breast. But instead of saying that, she said, _And he didn't tell me._

_He wasn't allowed,_ Sam explained as Paul arrived behind him.

_You never told me,_ she continued.

Sam repeated, _I wasn't allowed either._

_Bullshit. Says who?_

_The council,_ Embry broke in. _I can't tell my mom. Paul can't tell his dad._

_Sam, does your mom know?_ Leah pictured Alison, who had always been kind to her.

Sam shook his large head. _No. It's against the rules._

_That's idiotic. She has a right to know just like I did._

_I couldn't tell you. It wasn't allowed,_ he repeated.

She growled, _Who was going to stop you? Did someone seal your lips shut? No? Then I think you could have said something. I deserved to know. Even if you didn't care about me, if nothing else, it might have been nice to know this could happen to me and Seth!_

Her brother still had no words, too overwhelmed by what was happening. But they knew he agreed with her.

Sam had no good explanation for the deceit. _I... I cared... care about you._ He knew it was true, but the sense was dull. Vague memories of debates with Harry and the other elders appeared, but nothing coherent. He hardly remembered anything from that time. He knew he must have had a reason for following their instructions, but his life before Emily felt like a dream he couldn't quite recall.

_Sam, lock that shit up!_ Paul warned, but it was too late.

_Emily? I'll bet she's the little exception to your rule, isn't she?_ Leah thought she had been getting over the betrayal, but in her vulnerability, it came rushing back. Her emotions were raw and open, and she had no way to hide them.

Sam was no better able to mask his thoughts from her than she was from him. The overwhelming, drugging fog that was the imprint settled over him, and he envisioned Emily waiting for him at home. _Yes. She knows everything. She's the only one I can tell._

_Her? Why? That doesn't make any sense. How come she gets to know, when I just got to wait for everything to go straight to hell?_ The day's tumultuous events played through her mind, and her anger mounted. _I wasn’t just a fling, Sam. That cabin you two live in? It was ours! We were engaged!_

_We were? We were._ The thought seemed to startle Sam. He searched his mind for evidence to confirm what she said. He knew she was right, but it felt like everything she remembered had happened to someone else.

_What the fuck?_ Leah demanded. _Is that what it means to be a shifter? To forget everyone and everything that happened before? Are we going to forget our dad?_

Seth wanted to know the answer as badly as she did. _Sam? Are we?_

_No, you won't,_ Sam said, but the answer was perfunctory.

Embry added, _Really you won't. My relationship with my mom is hard since she doesn't know what I am, but it's not like I don't remember her._

_And your mom knows what's going on now,_ Paul added, _or at least she saw you phase, so no one will try to keep it a secret from her. She wouldn't let you forget Harry even if you tried._

A wave of grief hit Leah, and she realized it was coming from her brother. Seth emerged from the tree line. She moved toward him, and he whimpered as she pressed her muzzle against his. _What are we going to do?_ He asked plaintively.

She didn't answer, but Sam did. _We're going to help you change back. We’ll help you learn to control it, so that you only phase back and forth when you want to._

_But our dad will still be gone, won't he?_ Leah said.

No one answered, because nothing they could say would change the truth.

X-x-x-x-x-X

A few hours after Harry's death, Jacob Black joined the chaos. He had had a bizarre day of his own, having rescued Bella Swan from a suicide attempt when he pulled her from the frigid Pacific Ocean. He was terrified for her and wanted to go back to watch over her, but he had smelled an awful stench by her house and knew he had to leave. As Jacob showed them images of a black Mercedes parked outside Chief Swan's house, Seth and Leah were bombarded by an influx of anger, frustration, and alarm from the pack mind.

Embry said, _They're back?_

Sam immediately started panicking that Emily might be in danger. _Shit. I hope not._

Jacob asked Sam, _They didn't tell you they were coming? They should have. Isn't that part of the treaty?_

Leah and Seth simultaneously wondered, _The treaty? What's that?_

This led to a confusing and infuriating explanation about the local coven of vampires. Sam had explained the basic concept of the Cold Ones, but they hadn't yet learned about Dr. Cullen's strange "family".

None of it made any sense if they were as harmless as they claimed. Why would a vampire choose to be around as much blood as the doctor if he didn’t intend to drink any? Why did his elderly "children" constantly surround themselves with the temptation of innocent teenagers? Why did they prey on Bella before abruptly abandoning her? Didn’t they have anything better to do than go to high school over and over again? Why did they choose to live in an area of the country next to the only natural predators they had ever encountered? Why had they mysteriously left?

Worst of all, no one knew if their current visit was a permanent one. Their arrival must have triggered Leah and Seth to transform. Should they ready themselves for an influx of new wolves? If so, who would they be? Seth was only fourteen. At this rate, elementary school children would soon be joining the pack. Sam momentarily imagined a bunch of pups being mauled by a wild looking female vampire with flaming orange hair. That led to more confusing explanations about the current threat, a monster named Victoria. It turned out that Jacob had been chasing her when he found Bella about to go over the edge of the cliff. Sam was livid that the foolish girl's actions had prevented Jacob from catching Victoria and ending her once and for all.

The new information was too much for Leah and Seth to handle. Any one of the night's events was unthinkable. In combination, it was madness. Just when they thought things couldn't get more complicated, Jared phased in for what he thought would be an uneventful night patrol.

_Hey, sorry I’m late. Kim was kind of bummed about her history test, so I stuck around to…_ They saw memories of him pulling her into his lap and wrapping his arms around her until he realized the pack mind was filled with chaos. _What the heck is going on?_

_Jared,_ Sam answered, _we have two new members._

_Two?_ Jared guessed Seth’s identity, but he was mystified as to Leah’s.

_Seth and Leah, both of them._ Paul explained. _It’s been a rough night. Their dad just died._

Instead of passing along his condolences, Jared blurted out, _Leah? Leah Clearwater? Damn. I didn’t think that was possible. Emily’s not going to be pleased about this._

Leah was too startled by his reaction to respond coherently, but his words rubbed salt in her wounds. When did the world start to revolve around Emily Young? Paul chided, _Dude, priorities. Did you hear me? Harry Clearwater just died, and that’s not the half of it. Bella almost killed herself today, but Jake saved her. But he lost Victoria because he had to yank Bella out of the ocean. And the Cullens are back._

Jared was stunned. _Fuck. All of them? For good? And where’d the redhead go?_

_We don’t know._ Sam tried to rein the conversation back in. He didn’t want to go over everything again. _Embry, meet Jared and fill him in. As humans._

_It’ll be less confusing to have their voices in the mix,_ Jacob explained.

Jared agreed and turned his attention toward Embry. _Okay. I’ll meet you in Emily’s cabin. Sounds like it’s been a long day. She’ll take care of us. She always does!_ His thoughts weren’t explicitly stated, but they could all tell that he was thinking about how lucky Sam was to have Emily and how lucky he was to have Kim.

_When I left, she was putting together mac and cheese. The good kind with bacon in it._ Sam pictured her mixing the ingredients.

Leah didn’t say anything out loud, or at least she didn’t mean to. But she vividly remembered the cold winter day three years prior when she had taught Emily how to make the dish. Jared and Sam weren’t paying attention, but Embry was. _Guys? Can we focus here?_

Paul was more blunt. _Put a lid on it, shitheads._

But Jared’s thoughts escaped anyway. _Funny that food just tastes better when an imprint makes it._

_An imprint?_ asked Leah. _What the fuck is an imprint?_

Sam’s explanation didn’t calm her down in the least. He told her that it was their way of finding their perfect match, the one person in the universe who made them whole, their soulmate in the truest sense of the word. As he talked, he forgot with whom he was speaking. He extolled Emily’s virtues, described her flawlessness, and praised her brilliance. Embry and Jacob tried to stop him. Even Seth asked him to be quiet. He simply envisioned Emily’s face, her body, her hair.

Paul growled, _Sam, shut the fuck up! Is this really the time?_

_No, I want to see,_ Leah interrupted. She examined Sam’s thoughts closely, unable to stop herself. It hurt terribly, but compared to the rest of the day’s events, it was almost a pleasant distraction. She looked at the face he held in his mind, and to her confusion, it was not quite the woman she remembered. The most obvious sign that the woman in Sam's mind wasn't Emily was the lack of scarring. Leah hadn't seen Emily in months, but she knew there was no way her injuries could have disappeared so entirely. At first she thought the image was simply a memory of the way her cousin appeared before. But then she examined the picture more closely, and she realized that something was amiss. Unless her figure had changed substantially, Emily's breasts had never been quite that large, nor her waist as slim. Her neck was not that long, nor her hair so thick. Her facial features were slightly off as well. Her lips were not so plump, her eyes had never been quite that large and dark, nor her lashes so long and full. _That's not Emily._

The thought wasn't meant for anyone else, but Sam heard her anyway. He was deeply offended. _The hell it isn't. You think I don't know what my own imprint looks like?_

_Apparently not,_ she bristled. _Your memory obviously sucks._

Sam answered irritably, _I could never forget my imprint. It's impossible._ Every night when he closed his eyes, he saw the same beautiful, dark brown eyes staring back at him. In his dreams they sparkled with mirth. The corners crinkled with laughter. They shone with love. It was her eyes that he had fallen in love with first, and in the next moment, the rest of her. Of course he knew what his imprint looked like.

Embry saw what was coming and interrupted, _Can we get back to the basics please?_

But it was too late. Leah couldn't hide how badly his comment stung. _But I'm totally forgettable, huh? What we had wasn't even worth remembering._

Sam was caught off guard. He was still having difficulty connecting Leah's memories to his own past. He tried to backpedal. _That's not what I meant..._

_Whatever._ Leah tried to pretend she didn't care and changed the subject back. She knew Emily's features as well as she had known Sam's. She pulled up memories of her own, displaying them for Sam. _This is what she looked like._

The woman in Sam's mind was close, very close, but was not the same. The other pack members shifted uncomfortably. Most didn't know Emily before her injuries and were unable to confirm or deny Leah's assertions, particularly about Emily's facial features. But Paul was already convinced that Leah's memory about the lines of Emily's body was more accurate. Jacob quietly agreed. Embry hadn't decided and was trying to compare his own recollections against theirs. Seth was doing the same, and he had known Emily for his entire life. He kept coming back to one thing in particular: the wide, rich brown eyes that Sam couldn't stop thinking about. Quietly he said, _Those aren't Emily's eyes. They're Leah's._

Sam didn't believe Seth. He turned to the smaller wolf and growled, _That can't be true. You're making that up. I know my imprint better than I know myself._

Seth backed away, uncertain how to respond. Leah saw the irony buried in Sam's statement; if he had forgotten her, it meant he had forgotten himself. Paul approached her, examining her closely. She still wasn't used to the enormous animals, and she skittered backward, knocking a few loose pebbles over the edge of the cliff. _Careful, there,_ Paul urged. _We do like to go cliff diving, but now is not the time._

She glanced at the rocks below. _Actually, the way things are going right now, I think it would be fitting._

Her words scared Seth. He was afraid she was serious. _Don't say that, Lee._

_Sorry, squirt. I didn't mean it that way._

_Enough,_ Sam snapped. _We need to get out of here anyway. We're too visible out in the open like this._ He led them back into the cover of the woods. No one spoke, but they could hear each other's thoughts. Jacob was worrying about Bella and headed to the easternmost border to patrol, the closest he could get to her house without violating the treaty. Embry diplomatically offered to meet Jared in the woods rather than go to the cabin; Jared headed his way, idly wondering if Kim had managed to fall asleep. Paul kept glancing at Leah, thinking that Seth was probably right. It was hard to tell in this form, but the eyes that had enchanted Sam looked suspiciously like Leah's.

_Enough,_ Sam snapped. _That's a distraction we don't need right now. We'll end the debate once and for all, and then we don't have to think about this anymore. Leah, change back into your human body. I'll prove it to everyone._

She bristled at his callousness. _How? Exactly how am I supposed to do that? You said you'd show us, but it's been hours and all we've seen are you guys changing into wolves, not back._

Sam was reluctant to demonstrate the process. He knew Emily would not be pleased at the prospect of him being nude in front of another woman, particularly this one.

Leah rolled her eyes. _For fuck's sake. I've seen it all before!_

Sam struggled with the realization. He couldn’t reconcile his current life with his past one, which was hazy and unclear. He didn't respond directly to her statement. _Someone else can show you._

Paul moved between them. _For god's sake, I'll do it._ They watched as he stilled, and then he shrank into himself. A human man knelt before them. Leah averted her eyes when he stood, but she caught a glimpse of an impressive physique before focusing her eyes on her brother, who was staring in awe. "See? It's just that simple. And it doesn't hurt at all, not like the first phase into your wolf did. Coming back is the same, just in reverse."

Then he did just that, and a silver wolf exploded out of him. Seth asked, _Wow, how do you do that?_

_I don't know. It's hard to explain,_ Paul said, shrugging his broad shoulders.

Jacob tried, _It's about focus. You just have to concentrate the right way._

Leah asked, _Focus on what?_

Embry answered, _Your human body. What it feels like to be inside the form that you want to be._

_Well,_ Leah replied in frustration, _I'm pretty sure I want this really bad. But I just don't get it._

_Take some deep breaths,_ Embry suggested _. Close your eyes. Don’t look at the other guys; it’s distracting you. Picture your regular body. Think about what it looks like. What it feels like. Think about the way skin feels, not fur. Think about walking on two legs, not four._

Paul caught on and added, _Think about human hands. Palms. Five fingers. Opening and closing them. Think about what every movement feels like: the sensation of raising and lowering your arms, rolling your neck, bending over at your waist and standing up again. What it feels like to bend your knees._

Jacob added, _Picture your own face, what you look like in the mirror. Think about the sound of your human voice and what you have to do to speak. Think about the way your hair feels on your neck, falling down your back. Think about what it feels like to lick your lips._

Leah listened, and she tried. But she wasn’t the only one thinking about what she looked like. Sam, too, tried to envision her human body, her once-beloved face. But he couldn’t no matter how hard he tried.

Paul didn’t like the direction of Sam’s thoughts and tried to convince Sam to phase out. _It really would help if you showed them. You can phase out too. The more they see how it works, the more they’ll understand. You're the Alpha. You taught the rest of us how to do this, and that’s what you did for us. Just phased in and out over and over again while we watched and got the hang of it._

Seth, eager to change the subject, asked, _What's an Alpha?_

Jared jumped at the distraction as Leah tried to get a handle on her tumultuous emotions. _That means he's in charge. He's the leader._

_It's a wolf thing. Like in an animal pack, only even more than that._ Paul clarified. They detected an underlying current of frustration in his thoughts. They got a glimpse of one of his memories. Leah and Seth couldn't tell exactly what was going on. Paul had been racing through the woods when he suddenly felt paralyzed.

_What was that?_ Seth asked. Then the pack mind was flooded with different memories from each of the wolves. The images were too chaotic to decipher from one another, and the effect was unnerving.

Sam snapped, _Was that really necessary? We don't need to go over all of that right now._

But it was better than chancing Sam’s broken memories of Leah. Paul argued, _Of course we do. It's basic stuff. Besides, you already used an Alpha order on her._

_What?_ Leah demanded. _What are you talking about?_

Sam sighed audibly. _It's not important._

Jacob offered, _It’s sort of important. Sam, you've never been on the receiving end. It's not a nice feeling, and they should know what to expect._

Paul didn't wait for Sam to agree. He simply started talking. _The Alpha isn't just in charge. If Sam issues an actual order, you literally have no choice but to comply. You physically can't do other than what he says._

_That can't be._ Leah hoped she had misunderstood, but she knew she hadn't. She had indeed already felt her body move without her consent when Sam had ordered her away from her house. It was a terrifying sensation. She hated it even if it was for the best. She had felt out of control when Sam left her for Emily, but moving to Pullman and starting a new life there had given her a fresh start. She felt like she was in control over her own destiny. The night’s events hadn’t just overturned her newfound identity; she felt demolished. And for Sam, of all people, to have such power over her? It was a nightmare. _Tell me you're joking._

_No. It’s just how it works._ Sam was speaking, but she could feel him probing her mind at the same time. He had seen glimpses of her life in Pullman, and he wanted to know more. He plucked a picture of Adetayo from her memories, and something heavy and unfamiliar churned in his gut.

Leah couldn’t help but think about Jonathan as she snarled, _Stay out of my brain! None if that is any of your business! You gave up the right to know anything about me when you dumped me for my cousin!_

_I’m sorry_ , _but this pack is my business, and you’re pack now._

_That doesn't give you the right to dig through my private thoughts!_

Embry interrupted before they argued more. _And as brand new pack members, they need to know how to phase. Maybe I should come back and work with them..._

Sam didn't appreciate anything he thought of as a challenge to his authority. _No. You phase out and fill Jared in on what happened tonight, just like the original plan. Both of you phase out. There are too many voices right now._

Embry and Jared disappeared, and Sam turned back to Leah. He stared at her long and hard, contemplating how to handle her. He didn't like how defiant she was being, nor the way she threatened to destroy his carefully maintained balance. His pack had just reached a new equilibrium after Jacob phased, and he thought that was challenging enough. Leah was going to be something else entirely, particularly if unbidden memories kept rising to the surface. He needed to regain control. _I know you don't like the thought of me being able to tell you what to do, but in this case I think it'll help. Since you don't know how to do it on your own, I'll order you to. Once you've had to do it, it'll be easier to make it happen voluntarily._

_Sam, maybe you should..._ Jacob began.

But Sam didn't wait. _Leah, phase back into your human body NOW._

Leah's body responded of its own volition. She suddenly became dizzy, and her heart stuttered in her chest. A wave of nausea washed over her. Abruptly she collapsed in on herself, finding herself suddenly smaller than before. She shook her head, clearing her face of the long hair that had fallen into her eyes, and in dismay she realized she was nude on the dirt on her hands and knees. And she wasn't alone.

Seth moved forward to shield her with his body, but it was too late. Her face flushed with shame as she looked up, directly into the eyes of the black wolf. Sam had stopped breathing. For the first time, she saw a spark of awareness staring back at her. She knelt back on her ankles, trying in futility to hide her breasts behind her muddy hands. In her peripheral vision, she saw Paul avert his gaze, but she knew she had already seen everything.

She choked out a humiliated sob, but it turned into another howl as she immediately exploded back into her wolf form, unable to control the emotions that were spiraling out of control. She felt the ripples of Sam’s shock spreading through the pack mind. Memories were flooding to his consciousness. He was thinking a dozen things at once. He was seeing the views of her naked body from Seth’s and Paul’s angles as well as his own, and every image triggered new recollections of her long legs, the dip of her waist, the round swell of her ass, her smooth shoulders. He was surprised at how stunning she was. An image of her long neck appeared, unbidden. Unthinkingly, he followed the line of memory to see her head thrown back, her mouth open on a wail. To her horror, his mind’s eye travelled down her body and revealed her back arching and her peaked breasts thrust toward him, her taut belly, the mound of her sex, and his hard length driving into her. It took his breath away, and he stumbled backward.

_What the fuck, Sam!_ she demanded, horrified that he was displaying her to virtual strangers.

A chorus of epithets followed. Leah could feel them trying to hide their appreciation. But Seth was shocked. _Jesus! I don’t want to see!_

_Sam!_ Paul tried to stop him. _What the hell are you doing? Put that shit away!_

This time, when she ran, no one stopped her. Paul and Seth took chase, but Sam was rooted in place. A storm of memories overwhelmed him. But what paralyzed him was not the recollection of her body, her voice, her words, or her love. He was held rigid by the sight of her eyes, the beautiful brown eyes that he had thought were Emily's, the ones he had just seen staring back at him from the flawless, appalled face of his first love.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks to my wonderful beta, Babs81410.


	6. Reality

Seth and Paul followed her at a distance. She was too fast, and Sam wasn’t about to use another Alpha order on her to stop her, not when the last one had backfired so badly. Seth wanted to be with her, and he didn’t want her anywhere near Sam, so he ran after her. Paul felt protective of her and did the same.

Sam didn’t move. He didn’t need to, and it would only make things worse. Instead he watched through the eyes of his brothers, and he had already invaded her mind. He didn’t talk to her; he just absorbed her thoughts and the recriminations of her brother, who was begging him to leave her alone. But he was too stunned to do anything. He couldn’t figure out how to reconcile his resurfaced memories with his life as he knew it. Before Leah’s return, he knew on an intellectual level that he was born long before he met Emily, but everything prior to that day had been a blur. What knowledge he retained of Leah, of his plans, of his dreams, did not feel like they belonged to him but to someone else. It was if he had read about them and memorized the facts, then discarded what he didn't need to know.

Leah was surprised that she could feel worse than she already did. She felt guilty for even thinking about Sam when her father had just died, but she couldn’t help it, not after he had exposed her so brutally. No matter how far she ran, he was still there. _What the fuck happened to you? First you act like I was nothing, like I never existed. And now this? You go from thinking I’m no one to showing me to everyone! The Sam I remember would have kicked your ass for what you just did! Those were private memories! Those were ours! You tossed them away like they were nothing, and then you display them like they’re porn! Who are you? What the fuck is wrong with you? The person you used to be, he's gone, isn’t he? Everything you wanted to do, what you wanted to be, all nothing. You’ve tossed your dreams away. You tossed me away, buried the memory of me, and then bring them out like that! I feel fucking filthy now! Is that what my life is now? What am I supposed to do? My plans, they’re gone, aren’t they? All that work. Was it all for nothing? Is this what I am now? Am I going to be lobotomized like you?_

_I didn't mean to do it,_ Sam began. _I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. It just slipped out._

No matter how honest it was, his apology was an afterthought, and a worthless one at that. _Shove it, Sam! You think sorry cuts it? After everything you've done to me? What’s next? Are you going to rip my heart out with your bare hands? Or are you going to do it with your claws?_

She barreled ahead without regard to her surroundings, branches striking her face and tangling in her long coat. To get away from the tearing limbs, she headed for an area where the trees had thinned.

_Watch where you're going,_ Jacob urged.

But she didn't. The only thing she cared about was getting away from Sam. The more distance she put between the two of them, the better. She aimed for an opening.

_Try to calm down, Leah,_ Jacob urged.

It was impossible. _How? Why? Every time I think things can't get worse, they do. I don't know who Sam is. Apparently I don't even know who I am._

Paul said, _You’re still you. You still feel like you, right? So you’re still you._

_I’m me? This is me? This giant fucking dog? This animal? I sure as hell don't look like me! And you want me to calm down? How am I supposed to do that? What for? My fucking dad just died! I killed him by becoming this thing! Oh god, daddy!_ His last moments flashed before her in a terrible loop. She started to sob again, crying so hard as she ran that she couldn’t see straight. It slowed her down enough that Paul actually caught sight of her. When she realized how close he had gotten, she sprinted away.

_Can’t you all leave me alone?_ she demanded. _I don’t want anyone near me but Seth. And after what Sam just did, I don’t think I can bear to look my brother in the eye. What do the rest of you want from us?_

Jacob, who was watching from his spot on the border of their territory, said, _We're just trying to help._ _I’m sorry, but you’ve got to watch where you’re going._

_Who cares where I'm going? I just need to get away!_

Sam reiterated, _But not there! You're going to get caught and expose us all!_

She finally looked around. She was about to enter a residential neighborhood.

_Turn south before you wander into Cullen territory or get spotted,_ Jacob told her _. The last thing you want is to run into a vampire tonight._

She thought about ignoring them and plowing straight through, treaty be damned, but the way the night was going, she would end up in a fight with an undead creature and get maimed. She couldn’t possibly be lucky enough to actually die, not tonight. She changed direction, but it only helped her escape one predator. Sam was still sifting through her mind.

_Can’t you give us some time?_ Seth begged.

Shell-shocked but trying to remember his duty, Sam answered perfunctorily, _You’re both my responsibility. I have to make sure you stay safe and that you don’t expose the pack._

But he couldn’t stay focused on their safety. The sight of Leah’s human form huddled on the ground had floored him. He wanted to hide his confusion, but there was no way. He kept bringing up pictures of Emily to reconcile the differences that Leah and Seth pointed out. Before Leah showed him, he had no idea that he saw her differently than she actually was. He could disregard her assertions that he imagined small details incorrectly, but he couldn’t deny that Emily’s face was terribly scarred. He tried to picture them; he knew they were there, but he couldn’t see them clearly. The harder he tried, the more frustrated he became. Soon all he could see were the lovely eyes that belonged to Leah, the ones he had thought were Emily's all along. _They must be the same. They’re related,_ he mused, _so they have the same eyes._

_God damn it, Sam,_ snarled Paul. _Don't you see how much worse you're making everything? Get out of here. Just go._

Sam didn’t want to listen to Paul, whom he considered to be the most volatile and least reliable member of the pack. But Jacob, too, urged him to go and insisted he could keep things under control. Leah raged against his presence. When Seth again sadly asked Sam to leave, he decided he would go home and prove to himself that Emily looked just as she thought she did.

Finally, he was gone.

Leah only felt marginally better after Sam's departure. She was still reeling from the night's revelations. Her grief was fresh, her pain was raw, her confusion was great, and her self loathing was undeniable. She was a monster in the most literal sense of the word. It was no wonder that the spirits had deemed her unworthy of Sam. Even if he had been transformed into someone barely recognizable, though his mind and heart had somehow been mutated into something ugly and dark, he still deserved better than her. Better than a murderer.

_You didn't kill your dad,_ Paul told her.

Jacob agreed. _It looked like he just had a heart attack or something. You know this better than I do; you're a nurse. You can't give someone a heart attack. It's not how it works._

_No?_ She challenged. _You don't know what I said to him. How awful I was being. How irrational and argumentative. That alone was a stress he couldn't afford. And exploding in front of him? It was me changing into this creature, this thing, that set it all off. If I hadn't changed, he'd still be alive. It's the truth. No one can argue it, because you all know it’s true._

Jacob countered weakly, _You shouldn't say that. We have no idea what may or may not have happened._ But in his heart, they could tell that he agreed even though he didn’t blame Leah. Harry probably would still be alive if he hadn't just suffered the greatest shock of his life.

Leah made it all the way to the Olympic National Forest before she realized that there was no escape, even with Sam temporarily elsewhere, and as long as she was still part of the pack mind, there was nowhere to hide.

X-x-x-x-X

It took Seth two days to change back into his human body. For Leah it was even longer. Every time she would start to calm down, a trigger would set off her emotions and reverse her progress. She would remember the shame of exposing her body, and even if no one was within sight of her, she became too agitated to shift. Or one of the boys would phase out so they could go to school, and she would remember the shift at the hospital she was missing, and she knew she would never return to Pullman. She might catch a glimpse of her distraught mother through someone else's eyes, and her grief would be eclipsed by her guilt for abandoning Sue when they needed each other the most. Once she saw her reflection in the river, and she immediately flashed back to an image she had plucked from Seth’s memory. She saw her wolf’s body leaning over her father, and she knew she had killed him as certainly as if she had slashed his throat with her claws. Her life as she knew it was over.

Between the physical trauma of her transformation, the days of painful illness that had preceded it, the fresh grief of the loss of her father, the old wound of Sam and Emily's betrayal, and her newfound knowledge that her future was forever changed, Leah was exhausted in body and in mind. The voices in her head alternately startled her, disturbed her, or frightened her. She tried to put on a brave face for Seth's benefit, but once he disappeared from the pack mind, she found that her reserves were empty, and she had nothing left for pleasantries or courtesy. If she couldn't change back into her human body, a task that she feared was impossible, all she wanted was to be left alone with her grief and guilt.

But there was no privacy to be had. Someone was always watching her, both literally and figuratively. One of the other wolves was assigned to her at all times, ensuring she did not cross the invisible treaty line or stray anywhere too close to human activity. Even though she understood why the other wolves were there, it didn't prevent the visceral sensation that she was being stalked by a predator. Her human instinct was to be afraid of the frightening creatures. Although she was one of them, she didn't feel like it, and she visibly startled if one of them made any quick movement toward her. It was actually very embarrassing.

She was almost grateful for the distraction of her hunger. Her stomach grumbled and gnawed at her. Between the illness that led to her change and her traumatic first hours as a wolf, she hadn’t had anything to eat in days. The boys had all eaten normal meals when they phased back into their human bodies. When it was clear that she wasn't going to phase back anytime soon, Embry suggested that she hunt. She preferred to starve. Jacob brought her a mixing bowl containing his dinner leftovers, spaghetti bolognese. She instinctively reached a hand out to it, not expecting the claw she saw instead. Her appetite vanished. Then she spotted the ridiculous picture she made in Jared’s eyes: an enormous wolf bent over a bowl of pasta. He imagined her muzzle covered in sauce, and he laughed to himself.

She didn’t appreciate his mockery and sent him a death glare. Her hunger pangs turned into waves of nausea, and she stalked off. He followed at a distance, rebuffing her attempts to get him to leave. Sam hadn’t yet phased back in, but he had left strict orders that they must stay within sight of her. He didn't think she was in any condition to take care of herself.

She couldn’t even fall asleep to escape them. After Seth went home, Jared finally led her to the shelter of a cave, where she lay down. He sat in the entrance staring out at the waves. Though she was utterly exhausted, she couldn’t sleep. Between her discomfort on the rocky ground, her frayed nerves, and the innocuous but ever-present chatter between Jared and Paul, who was on patrol, she couldn’t rest. She didn’t even feel like she could relax. Instead of seeing the dark inside of her eyelids, she saw everything that Paul and Jared saw. Someone might as well have taped her eyes open and asked her to sleep. She finally got up and stalked past Jared. She said nothing, but they felt her frustration. She wanted them to shut up, but it was impossible to turn off their own thoughts.

_Eventually you'll get used to it,_ said Paul. _The pack mind is..._

Jared trotted after her. _It is what it is. Nothing we can do about it._

She wouldn't have been so frustrated about their telepathy if she couldn't tell how irritated Jared was at having to watch over her. Normally Sam would have relieved him of his shift, but he had wisely decided to keep his distance from Leah. Unfortunately, that meant that the remaining members of the small pack had to pick up the slack. Jared didn't care about missing school, but he resented anything that separated from Kim. He couldn't stop thinking about her, nor could he hide how much he would rather be with her rather than watching Leah.

_Feel free to go,_ she said. _As far as I'm concerned, you can go do whatever you want. I don't need a babysitter._

_Actually, you do. Alpha's orders. Now, if you would just phase back into your body, you could go home and go to bed, and I could go see Kim._

She answered irritably, _Don't you think I'd do it if I could figure out how? Don't you think I'm trying?_

He didn't mean to speak out loud, but she could hear his thought as clearly as if he yelled it in her ear. _Obviously you're not trying hard enough._

_Cut me some slack!_ she snapped. _It took Sam, what, two weeks to change back? How long did it take you?_

_Three days_ , he offered reluctantly.

Paul offered, _It took me four._

Jared sighed, _Look, I'm not trying to be a jerk. It's just really hard to be away from Kim._

_He's not exaggerating,_ Paul added. _He's like an addict who hasn't had a fix._ Leah noticed the undercurrent of disapproval in his tone, but Jared ignored it.

_Well, I didn't ask you to stay with me,_ Leah answered. _I'm serious. As far as I'm concerned, you can go. Plus it's been what, all of three hours since you last saw her? And aren't you going directly to her place after your shift?_

_You don't get it. It's not like the normal way you miss somebody._ As Jared thought about Kim, he visibly relaxed. He lowered his haunches to the ground, and she could swear she saw a vacant expression cross his lupine face. _Imprinting is different. It's amazing. It's…_ He struggled to come up with words, and she could feel his senses tune one by one onto someone who wasn't even there. He got lost in a fog. _It's like nothing you've ever felt before. It's amazing._

Paul tried to stop him, interrupting, _Honestly, dude? Are you really going there?_

_She's going to see it all anyway,_ Jared pointed out. _I know you care about Sam, Leah. But that's why you should be glad that he imprinted. Emily is his actual soulmate. She's perfect for him in every way. There’s no one better for him in the entire world. Most people aren’t lucky enough to end up with their soulmate, but he is. So if you really care about him, you should just be happy for him._

Leah actually growled at him, a menacing, black sound from deep within her chest and throat. Part of her was still appalled that she was capable of making such a noise. But she was so angry that the release of her pain and aggression felt good.

Paul snorted at her attempt to intimidate Jared, who turned and bristled at her in response. _Hey, back off! I'm sorry that you were collateral damage, but Sam and Emily are meant to be, just like Kim and I are. You should feel lucky that he ended it before you guys got married and didn't have to get a divorce or something._ He thought of his own relationship with Kim as he spoke. He had every intention of proposing as soon as he could afford a ring.

_Wait now,_ Leah stopped him. _This is the same girl who is been in all of your classes since, what, kindergarten? One girl out of how many, six? Seven in your whole grade?_

Paul answered for him. _Five. There are five girls in our class._

_Okay, so she's your soulmate, and you've known her for your entire life. And she's got almost no competition just because of how small the tribal school is. So you must have fallen for her ages ago, right? Because she's your perfect match, and she's been sitting right next to you for a decade._

Jared didn't want to admit anything that might lessen Kim in Leah's eyes at all. _I just didn't know what was good for me, that's all. I was blind, and the imprint opened my eyes._

_Yeah, right._ Leah scoffed. _Because you guys see your imprints so perfectly, is that it? Then how come Sam doesn't even know what Emily really looks like? How come he morphed her body with mine in his brain? How come he thinks my eyes are hers?_

Paul wanted to hear Jared's response, so he just listened. Jared stammered, _You don't know what you're talking about. It's like he said. You guys just have the same eyes, that's all. You’re related to each other, after all. And so what if he doesn't see those scars when he thinks of her? That's a good thing. She doesn't want people staring at them, and he doesn't. It doesn’t mean he’s confused the two of you somehow._

_If he can't see the scars, then he's gone completely blind!_ Leah snarled, at the end of her wits. _Hell, maybe you have too! Or maybe you've gone just as crazy as he has, just as crazy as I have got to be!_

Jared repeated defensively, _You don't know what you're talking about. You've only been here a couple days. You don't have everything figured out. You're just angry because Sam left you. Imprinting is the best thing that ever happened to him, just like its the best thing that ever happened to me._

_Really?_ she asked. _Because I knew Sam as well as I know anyone in the world, and that is not him. He changed a lot when he phased, I see why in retrospect, but he was still the same guy beneath the muscle and the temper. But now? He's had a damn lobotomy._

_You’re just jealous,_ Jared asserted. He couldn't stand any challenge to his belief that imprinting was a gift. _Emily's amazing. She's kind and thoughtful and she takes great care of him. She's exactly what he needs. The sooner you accept reality, the better._

_Goddamn brainwashed zombie motherfucker._ Leah didn’t mean to say it to him, but he heard her nonetheless. Normally she never would have voiced such a thing to anyone. But the filter that existed between her brain and her mouth was useless in the pack mind.

Jared didn't appreciate it either way. _Hey, I'm just trying to help you here! The least you could do is be a little appreciative. It's not like I've got nothing better to do than follow you around all day long._

_I didn't ask for your help!_ She shouted. _You don't want to be here? That's great! I don't want you here either! Leave me alone, both of you!_

Paul didn't like being lumped in with Jared. _Hey, I'm not the one arguing with you._

_You know we can't leave you alone,_ Jared answered. _We have our orders._

She was exasperated. _What is it with you people and your orders? Is everyone here a little slave for Sam Uley? He says jump, and you say how high!_

Jared defended his friend. _He's a good leader, Leah. He had it harder than any of us, phasing all alone. Nobody to help him. Nobody to tell him what was going on. You should be grateful that you didn't have to go through that._

She sarcastically answered, _Of course. Grateful. Because everything that's happened in the past couple days was really good for me. Really good for my brother._

Jared answered, _That's not what I meant, and you know it. I'm sorry about your dad, but don't pretend like you're the only one who's had it rough. Going to school while we we're on a patrol schedule? There isn't exactly time for both. My parents thinking I'm some kind of delinquent because I'm always disappearing on them? I'm in trouble all the time. Knowing that I might fight to the death with a vampire anytime I go to the woods? We're built for it, yeah, but it isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my weekends._

All of that only made Leah feel worse. She wasn't even thinking about herself anymore. She was thinking about Seth. How was he going to manage to stay in school this way? What did his future now hold? It was bad enough that her life had been overturned, but she couldn't stand the idea that her brother's promising future might be reduced to this. _Fuck. This is a goddamn nightmare. What's going to happen to Seth?_

Paul replied, _We split patrol shifts pretty evenly, except for Sam, since he's not in school anymore. He takes more of them. Seth will get on the rotation just like everyone else._

_But he's just a kid! He can't afford to miss that much school,_ she protested.

Paul told her bluntly, _None of us can afford to miss this much school. We've got to do it anyway because we have no choice._

Anger boiled in Leah’s belly. Not only was she not going back to Pullman anytime soon, she was going to have to quit her job, drop out of college, and stay here only to watch her brother’s promising future vanish into thin air. She didn't think she could stand it. Just one week ago, she was making plans with her friends, laughing with Rachel, and setting up another date with Jonathan. She was making a good living, learning to be independent, and making herself and her parents proud. But now she was here, she had turned into a monster, and her father who had been so proud of her was gone forever. She was angry with him, and she hated herself for it. But he had known what happened to Sam, had known why he left her, and worst of all, had known what lay in store for Seth. And yet he had said nothing. She was angry at the betrayal and even more furious at herself for thinking anything ill of the beloved parent she had just lost.

After that, they kept their conversation to a bare minimum. Jared was mad at her, and Paul knew that she wanted only to be left alone. He respected her wishes. So they didn't speak, but nothing could keep them from hearing each other's thoughts. Leah's were hopelessly dark, and they left her to them.

Jared finally phased out at the end of his shift. Instead of waiting until Embry phased in to give him an update, he went looking for his packmate in his human form. He didn't want to be in Leah's presence for a second longer than he had to. Paul knew Jacob would be a little late; he had to help his father to bed before he could leave the house. For a few blessed minutes, there was only one other voice in her head.

By then, Leah was lying near the edge of a rocky outcropping overlooking the sea. She had been awake for so long that she was starting to doze off periodically despite the sights and sounds on display in the pack mind. Her thoughts were as quiet as they could get in her semiconscious state. Her eyes were closed, but she could tell that Paul was looping back toward her. His steps carried him uphill. She said nothing as he approached, and neither did he.

Eventually she saw her own grey wolf lying before his eyes. It was a surreal sight. She didn't think she would ever get used to seeing more than one perspective at once, and she came to full awareness.

_You kind of get used to it. Sort of. It gets less nauseating, anyway,_ he said quietly.

She said nothing in response, but he knew she was awake. Her uneven breathing and slightly elevated heart rate would have given her away even if he couldn't read her mind. He came up beside her and stretched out on the ground. He said nothing else. He just looked out at the waves. Eventually she opened her eyes to see the same view. _What was your first time like?_ she asked.

He deliberately misunderstood her. _Delia Blackwing at Jamie Ryan's house party. Also the first time I got drunk. It was... Well, let's just say not my proudest moment. But I practiced a lot and got better real fast._

_Pervert_ , she snorted as hazy pictures flooded her mind. _I really don't want to see any of that! Bad enough you told me. And wasn't she just one class below me? Doesn't that make her three years older than you?_

_Yeah_ , he answered smugly. _This wolf thing really aged me. I look older than you do at this point. It was different for those of us who had more lead time before we shifted. I think I grew a good six or seven inches before I phased, and I buffed up a ton. I don't think those physical changes happened to you so much because you were only back for a couple days before the shift happened._

_Man, I hope not,_ she sighed. _I don't want to look like I'm thirty until, you know, I'm thirty._

_I know plenty of sexy thirty year old ladies, but I don't think you have to worry about that either way._ Unbidden, the image of her naked body crouching on the ground appeared in his mind. There was no point in trying to hide it, because she already knew what he was thinking about, so he just went with it. _You've always been the hottest girl on the Rez, Leah, and if you keep phasing, you'll keep the title indefinitely. As long as we keep phasing, we don't age. So if you want, you could keep that sexy shape just like it is until you're 50 or 60. Or a hundred if you feel like it._

_Seriously?_ She asked. _There's no way I was ever the hottest girl here. And I absolutely do not want to turn into this creature for any longer than I have to. But you make it sound like we do get to stop at some point. Is that true?_

_Yeah. Everyone stops eventually, or so they tell us anyway. And it must be true, right? If not, there would still be some members of the last pack hanging around. Supposedly everybody eventually decides to stop phasing so that they can age with their families._

_Well that's something, I guess. I'm glad that I won't be stuck like this forever._

She glanced at him, and he was giving her a grin. His teeth looked incredibly sharp. _But wouldn't you like to still look like you're 20 when you're actually 50? Just imagine. Emily will be fat and wrinkled and have sagging tits and a flabby butt, and you could still look like a swimsuit model. Wouldn't you like to rub it in her face? Or better yet, Sam's?_

She laughed despite herself. _So that's my new goal in life, huh? Petty revenge?_

_That, and tearing apart vampires._ Paul showed her their successful hunt for a dark skinned predator who had been stalking Bella Swan. His name was Laurent. He told her about the huge rush it had been to rip him apart limb from limb. _Just you wait. You are going to love tearing these things to shreds._

The very idea of being violent was an anathema to her. She wanted to spend her life helping people, not hurting them. But she instinctively understood that these creatures weren't people. They were dangerous, they were murderers, and they needed to die. _We're protectors, is that right?_

_It's a thankless job, literally. Nobody knows what we are or what we're doing. It's exhausting and miserable,_ he admitted. _And if I actually stop to think about what an absolute twat Bella Swan is, I kind of want to let them eat her. But she is a human, and she's given me the excuse to massacre one of them. Turns out I really liked it, and I think I'd like to do again._

She didn't answer. She thought about what he said, and she heard him wondering where Embry was. She looked back at the sea, and moments later, she felt a shift, and she looked at Paul. He was sitting next to her in his human body, naked and unashamed. This time he spoke with his voice. "Embry seems to be taking his time. So this might be the only chance you have to get some rest." She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he responded to her unspoken question. He shrugged. "He said one of us is supposed to stick with you, make sure you're safe. But Sam didn't say we had to do it as wolves. Just close your eyes. Until Embry and Jake show up, it'll actually be dark behind your eyelids."

She stared at him for a second, trying to figure out if he was serious. She had a feeling he would get in trouble with Sam, but also that he couldn't care less. Then she closed her eyes.

By the time Embry arrived, Leah had finally fallen into an exhausted sleep. To Paul's surprise, she involuntarily phased back into her human body in her rest. He couldn't stop himself from staring at her lovely form as he phased in. Embry exclaimed, _Wow. She's absolutely…_

She was gorgeous. _Yeah. I know,_ Paul answered. _She's the only girl I've ever met who's an actual ten._ He also noticed that he was right; she didn't really look any older than her chronological age. Her transformation had toned her long limbs, but that was all.

Embry interrupted his gawking. _Um, I don't think she's going to like us staring. I've got the change of clothes that Jared was holding for her. Let me bring it over._

_No,_ Paul said. _Bring a blanket._

_Oh, okay. We probably couldn't get her dressed without waking her up anyway, could we? Plus I doubt she wants us touching her like that._

Paul pointed out, _I'm going to have to touch her to get her home._

_I can do it_ , Embry volunteered.

But Paul felt possessive. _No. I've got her._

Leah dimly felt herself wrapped in soft fabric and lifted off the ground. She was far too tired to wake up fully, but she knew that it was Paul who gently cradled her in his arms for the long walk and tucked her into her childhood bed. When she awoke, she wished the past few days were just an awful dream, but she could smell his scent on the cotton.

 


	7. Crossing Lines

When Leah fell asleep in her wolf body and involuntarily phased back into her human one, she slept a blessedly dreamless sleep. Her psyche was so overwhelmed that it simply shut down for a few blissful hours. But that didn't last. She awoke to the same reality to which she had fallen asleep, and there was nothing for it.

She slipped on a large tee shirt, embarrassed that Paul must have seen her naked again. Embarrassment was the least of her problems, though. She peered into the hallway, seeing no one. Someone was downstairs; she could hear them moving around. She slipped into the bathroom as quietly as possible and closed the door. It was dark, and she was afraid of what she would see in the mirror when she turned on the light. She took a deep breath and flicked the switch.

She was a mess. Dark circles sat under her eyes, her hair was tangled and dusty, dirt was smudged across her skin, and bits of grass and dead leaves were stuck to her body. The counter seemed slightly lower than it had before; she had probably grown an inch or two. She rolled up her sleeves. She could see the outline of her biceps, but they didn’t bulge out unattractively. She lifted her shirt. Her stomach was toned, but she didn’t have a six pack. Her waist was still slim and her hips still flared out, and her breasts were still full and pert. She looked athletic but not like a bodybuilder. She still looked feminine, and more importantly, like herself. Leah breathed a sigh of relief.

She climbed into the shower and turned on the hot water, disappointed that her newly elevated temperature made it feel tepid. But she felt clean for the first time in days. She soaped herself from head to toe and methodically untangled her hair with two rounds of conditioner, and by the time she stepped out, she felt human again even if she really wasn’t. She donned her old robe and opened the doorway, thinking seriously about hiding in her bedroom. But the scent of fresh coffee drifted up from the kitchen. At least that hadn't changed. Her stomach grumbled in response. She was ravenous. She wished she had some snacks stashed in her room, but there was nothing. She would have to go downstairs. At least she hadn’t heard the voices of any packmates. She descended the stairs with trepidation. On the bottom step, she halted. Her heart thudded rapidly in her chest. She could hear someone breathing in the kitchen. She took a deep breath and rounded the corner.

Her mother was looking up at her with an expression as nervous as hers. For a long moment, they stared at one another. Leah was frozen in place. The last time they had seen one another, she was an animal, and Sue was frantically trying to save her father’s life. If her mother had any sense, she would kick her out of the house or run away as fast as she could go. Instead, Sue’s lip began to quiver, and she slowly pushed herself back from the kitchen and stood. She stepped around the table and took a deep breath. Leah was certain she about to be tossed out. But then Sue opened her arms. "Come here." Leah nearly collapsed into her mother’s embrace. They clung to each other fiercely. Sue whispered, “I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t know. I didn’t know. I’d never have let you come home if I knew. I’d have grabbed your brother and run if I knew this would happen. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Leah was heartened by her mother’s loyalty but mortified that Sue was apologizing. She had absolutely nothing to be sorry for. “Don’t say that, mom. It’s not your fault. Not at all.”

Sue sniffed, “You may not be a child any longer, but I’m still your mom. And a mother’s job is to protect her kids. I didn’t protect you from this.”

“You couldn’t. I don’t think anybody could.”

Sue pulled away and scowled. “If someone had told me what was going on, you’d better believe I would have tried.”

Leah smiled. She couldn’t help it. “And when Sue Clearwater tries, Sue Clearwater succeeds.”

Her mother laughed despite herself. “Like mother, like daughter, right?” Sue pulled out a chair and gestured for her to sit down. “Here. Let me fix you something to eat.”

Leah’s stomach grumbled in response. “That sounds amazing.”

“They told me you’d be starving when you woke up, so I prepped some things.” She pulled a waffle iron out of a cabinet and plugged it in.

From the refrigerator, she retrieved a mixing cup full of batter and a carton of eggs. As she waited for the pan and iron to heat, she started whisking the eggs. Leah poured herself a cup of coffee and dumped in four teaspoons of sugar and a half a cup of milk. Her mother eyed the drink suspiciously. "Since when do you like it so sweet?"

Leah shrugged. "I want as many calories as I can get right now. The girls at work would laugh at me for making it this way, but I need some sugar." Then her shoulders slumped as she thought about her job. "When am I going to go back, mom?"

"I don't know. I wish I could tell you that you'll be right as rain after a couple days, but the more I learn…" Sue set down her whisk. "I can't believe he never said anything.” She began to rub her temples with her fingers. "Twenty five years, and he keeps something like this from me."

"He didn’t tell you anything? Didn’t drop any hints, even?"

"Nothing." Sue closed her eyes and shut her mouth in a grim line. "Not when those… creatures… came to town. Not when Sam disappeared and then showed up all of a sudden, when he didn't want to go off to school anymore. Not when he broke your heart and took up with Emily. Not when your brother started shooting up like a weed, when the two of you got those terrible fevers… He knew." Her voice began to tremble. "The entire time, he knew. But he didn't say a word. He should have said something. He should have told us. We're his family, and we had a right to know. It involved us directly. But he fell in line and kept his mouth shut. And I'm so angry. Furious. But I've got no one to yell at, no one to blame, because he's gone. He left before I could yell at him." Sue would have gone on, but instead she broke down in tears.

Leah wrapped her arms around her mother, trying to hold them both together when everything had fallen apart. She felt so betrayed. "He knew we would turn?"

Sue shook her head and wiped her eyes. "They tell me that he thought it was impossible for you to shift, but he knew it might happen to Seth, knew it was a matter of time, really. I think he fooled himself into thinking that since both of you got ill at the same time, it must be something else. Only deep down, he must have known it wasn't. If he truly believed that you were both just sick, he wouldn't have fought me so hard about taking you to the hospital." She buried her face in her hands. "Which means that somewhere, deep down inside, he knew it was happening to both of you, but he didn't say a word. Not a word. And now it's too late."

And he was only gone because of what Leah had done. Leah choked out, "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Mean to? What are you talking about?" Sue lifted her head.

Leah answered, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I didn't mean to upset him. I didn't mean to fight. And I didn't mean to turn into that thing."

Sue's eyes widened. "But of course you didn't! Neither did your brother. Now if your father had told us what the hell was going on, maybe we could've done something about it. But instead, he kept it all to himself. He kept sneaking out of the house at all hours of the night to talk to Billy, Old Quil, the rest of the council, even Sam Uley." She said the final name like a curse. "But his family? The ones he was supposed to care about more than anybody? The ones who stood by him through thick and thin? Apparently we didn't deserve any kind of warning or explanation."

Leah was too confused to muster up the anger that her mother displayed. "Why? Why do you think he would do that?"

Sue slumped against the counter. "I don't know. Blind optimism, partly. Billy said he thought he'd have more time before Seth phased. Once the vampire coven left, he thought that would be the end of it. They all hoped no one else would phase. And he followed the orders of the council. They're all terrified the secret could come out, and I guess I can't blame them for that. If the wrong people found out… I don't even want to think about what could happen to you and your brother." She sighed, "I don't know. He meant well, and the council means well, but I don't think it's right. It's idiotic, actually. Do you know that they don't even tell the boys what's going on until after they phase?"

Leah was incredulous. "What? That can't possibly be right."

"It's ridiculous. Apparently the warning signs are pretty obvious. The way you guys got so sick before it happened? That happens to everybody beforehand. The temperatures that are totally off the charts. The pain. The uncontrollable temper. I mean, anyone with an ounce of sense who's paying the least bit of attention can figure out what's going on if they're in on the secret. So you'd think that they'd say something, right? Warn the boy as soon as they see it starting. But no. They wait until he explodes, literally. It's the most asinine thing..."

Leah exclaimed, "That's horrible! Speaking from personal experience, I cannot imagine a worse way to handle it. And how stupid! Why on earth would they do that?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. But believe me, if I've got anything to say about it, that's going to change."

And that was what Leah had always admired the most about her mother. Sue wasn't just confident under pressure, she was clearheaded and decisive. She had always made her children feel safe and comforted. They grew up thinking there wasn't anything their mother couldn't handle, and Leah hoped that this belief would hold true. Her father had let her down, but her mother had not. Not yet. She asked, "What can you do about it? Start talking to people? Tell them what's going on?"

Sue clarified, "I'm not just going to go run my mouth off. They're right that it wouldn't be safe for all of you if the secret got out. The very last thing I want to do is make things worse for you and Seth. But they've given me your father's seat on the Council, and you can bet I'm not just going to fall in line behind those old men."

"Speaking of Seth, where is he? Not in school, I'm guessing."

Her mother frowned. "Sam came to get him this morning. They're training, whatever that means. We're supposed to let them know when you're up so you can join them."

Leah grimaced. "Why Sam? Of all the people in the world to have to share a brain with."

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I wouldn't have wanted to read your dad's mind, let alone have him read mine, and we never went through a breakup. But you remember that the best revenge is simply to live well."

Leah looked at her feet. "I know. I was just starting to figure that out on my own. But right now I'm having trouble imagining how I'm going to live like this at all."

"It can't last forever," Sue reassured her.

She thought to herself that she was afraid it would end when a vampire killed her. Instead she said, "But how do I get through today? I don't want to see Sam or any of the rest of them. I can't." She was too embarrassed to tell her mother about how humiliated she had been to be naked in front of them, or how Sam had displayed her to the pack mind.

But Sue smiled at her. "Well, they told me to send you to them when you were up. I didn't say I agreed, did I?"

"Maybe I can just avoid them forever."

"You could try," her mother admitted, "but I think we both know but it wouldn't work. Forever is just a very long time. Today, on the other hand…"

Leah saw the twinkle in her mother's eyes. "What are you thinking?"

Sue stepped back to take a good look at her daughter. "I think this wolf thing has made you a little taller."

Leah nodded. "I know. I didn’t really need it, either."

"Nonsense. You look beautiful. You'll probably be needing some new clothes, won't you? Your old stuff might not fit."

"I think that's the least of my problems, mom."

Sue asked, "Well, if you want to, I'm sure I can get a hold of Sam somehow, and he can come get you for training. It might actually be more fun than the other thing I need to do today. I'm going to the funeral home in an hour."

"Oh, mom, of course I'll come with you." Leah didn't want Sue doing that alone.

"You don't have to."

"I want to."

"Thank you." Sue looked relieved. "Then I can make us this breakfast, and we'll go make arrangements. After that, how about I take you into town for a new wardrobe? Or would you rather find Sam afterward?"

Despite herself, Leah laughed. She was so grateful for her mother. "Do you even have to ask?"

Sue smiled broadly. "Good." She poured batter into the waffle iron and closed the lid. "Then you're mine today."

They did their best to make arrangements that they thought Harry would have liked, but the details of a funeral seemed totally unimportant in the grand scheme of things. And the cost was absurd. The funeral director also gave them an intimidating list of tasks. They would have to notify social security, Medicare, their credit card companies, their utility companies, their bank; the list went on and on. Leah couldn't believe how complicated it was. Wasn't it enough to grieve?

After that, mother and daughter spent the afternoon together. Sue drove all the way to Port Angeles, where she spoiled her daughter with more new clothes than she needed before taking her to an all-you-can-eat buffet for dinner. Neither of them wanted to think about the tragic and bizarre turn their lives had taken, and they studiously avoided any sensitive subjects. They told each other about their funniest and most dramatic patient encounters. Leah talked about how much she liked living with Rachel, and she tried not to think about the fact that she wouldn't get to anymore. Sue asked her about her romantic prospects, and then she told Leah stories about the boy she had dated before Harry, and then how Harry had wooed her away from him. Leah was stunned by the idea that there was a time when her parents weren't together. It simply never occurred to her that they did not always exist as a unit. They made each other smile and laugh. Leah felt wonderfully, conventionally normal, at least for a few hours.

But reality was waiting on her doorstep when they returned.

He stood to his full and imposing height. He wore no shirt, and he folded his muscular arms over his broad chest. His stern, handsome face turned down into a frown. He glared at her irritably.

He looked so familiar, yet so foreign. His features, so well known to her and once beloved, were now altered just enough to turn him into a complete stranger. His face, once youthful, now looked older and careworn. His build, once slight, was now thick and hard. His smile, once bright, was gone. His eyes, once full of life and love, were now flat and dull. Sam had become an awful caricature of himself.

She stepped out of the car. "Where have you been?" he asked.

Sue answered before Leah could open her mouth. "I needed some time with my daughter."

Sam just glowered at them. "It had to be today? She's needed today."

"I needed her today," Sue said quietly. "I needed both my children, actually. You may recall that their father just died. We had to arrange his funeral."

Sam had the decency to look ashamed. But what came out of his mouth was, "I am sorry for your loss. He was a good man. But Leah has obligations to the pack, just like we all do."

"Leah has obligations to her family, something you used to remember,” Sue retorted.

"Of course. But safety comes first, and she is needed to protect this tribe. We're stretched too thin already."

Sue asked, "Did something happen?"

He shook his head. "Not today, no. But something will, and she needs to be ready for it. She needs to be prepared. Decisions need to be made. First, though, you need to cut your hair.”

“What?” Leah blinked. Sam had loved her long, silky hair. When they sat together, he was constantly running his fingers through it or burying his nose in it to catch her scent. “Why?”

“Your wolf’s hair is way too long. Didn’t you notice how it tangled in everything? You’ve got to get it under control.”

“I don’t want to,” she protested.

He put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “It’s not optional.”

“Does it have to happen now?” Leah fingered the ends, hoping to delay as long as possible.

“Yes. I can do it, although I can’t promise it’ll look any good when I’m done,” Sam answered.

Sue tightened her jaw and looked at her daughter. If nothing else, she could give her a flattering cut. “Come on inside, honey. I’ll take care of it.”

Leah looked dismayed, so Sue mustered up a smile. “Seriously?”

“Come on,” Sue gestured to the front door. Leah walked as slowly as she could. Sam tried to follow them in. Sue turned to glare at him. “You can go home now. I’ll take care of it.”

Sam shook his head. “Actually, she needs to come with me when you’re done.”

Leah asked skeptically, “Where?”

“The council is gathering. You need to be there.”

Sue frowned. “Why wasn’t I informed?”

“I am informing you right now,” Sam told them.

Sue asked, “Is the entire pack going to be there? Is Seth already there?”

Sam paused. “No. The meeting is about Leah. Hurry up with the haircut. Everyone’s waiting.”

“They can wait a little longer,” Sue said firmly, and then she shut the door in Sam’s face.

“It needs to be as short as possible,” he called out.

Sue leaned her forehead against the door for several seconds. When she took a deep breath and turned around, Leah looked like she was trying to hold back tears. “I don’t want to, Mom.”

“I know, baby. But let’s you and I do this together before Sam comes at you with a pair of shears. I promise I’ll make it look good.”

Leah kept her eyes closed as her long hair fell to the floor. Sue gave her a flattering bob. She was certain that Sam wouldn’t approve, but she knew he was in a rush, and he wouldn’t want to take any longer to get to the council meeting. Sue set the scissors down and said, “Want to take a look?” Leah just shook her head. “You look beautiful, honey. Your neck looks long, and the cut shows off your collarbone and shoulders. I think you’ll like it.”

“Thanks,” Leah said quietly. But she refused to open her eyes.

When they opened the front door, Sam frowned. It was longer than he wanted it, so he glared at Sue. She glared at him right back. “We’re late,” he said.

Sue pointed to her car. “Then we’ll get going.” She opened the back door for him. “Climb on in. We’ll drive you over.”

Leah was about to protest at riding with Sam until she realized he would have to squash himself into an area meant for someone a foot and a half shorter than he. He shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ll walk.”

“I insist.” Sue gestured at the door, and Sam reluctantly crouched down and climbed into the back of Sue’s Ford Focus. Leah didn’t enjoy the sensation of Sam’s eyes boring into the back of her head, but she liked the way his knees were wedged up against his chest.

When they entered the council hall, she couldn’t help but feel awkward on his behalf. The folding chairs in the conference room fit him as well as Sue’s backseat. And he still wasn’t wearing a shirt. Leah understood why; she was just as warm as he was, but she didn’t rip her top off to keep herself comfortable. The Sam she remembered never would have forgotten such basic courtesy in a formal meeting. He looked totally out of place. Who had he become?

She turned her attention go Billy, who gestured for her and Sue to take open seats. A half dozen others nodded briefly in her direction. She recognized them all, but she didn’t know any of them well. She sat down, and Billy cleared his throat. “Thank you both for joining us. I know it has been a trying time. Harry was a wonderful man, and he will be missed.”

Sue spent a few minutes accepting condolences while Leah became increasingly nervous. Whatever this meeting was for, it couldn’t be good, because no one would make eye contact with her.

Eventually Sam took over the conversation. He handed her a printed calendar; she spotted her name peppered across the page. “That’s the patrol schedule.”

“I can see that.” Why hadn’t he spoken to her about creating it? He expected her to drop everything and come running whenever he commanded, didn’t he? She pointed at the following week. “I’m already scheduled for shifts at the hospital on both these nights. I’ve got a physiology exam next Thursday.”

“I’m sorry, but you don’t anymore,” Sam said quietly. “You can’t go back, not anytime soon.”

She had already known it, but having it confirmed was painful. It felt even worse coming from Sam. She protested, “I have responsibilities, you know. We were already short staffed on my unit. I can’t just quit my job. My half of the rent’s due soon.”

“You have to,” Sam insisted. “We need the members of our pack more than the hospital does. Nurses are replaceable; shifters are not. And there’s no way you can complete this semester. It’s unfortunate. I understand that. But it isn’t an option.”

She offered, “Then I’ll look for a job here. If I have to stay here, I’ll see if Forks General is hiring, or one of the clinics. At least I can still give Rachel my half of the rent."

"That's kind of you, but..." Billy began before Sam cut him off.

“No, you can’t do that either.” Sam frowned. “You can see other pack members, but other contact is restricted.”

“You can’t be serious!” She thought of Rachel, Jonathan, and all the others she had met. Was she ever going to see them again? Her life was just starting. How could it be over already?

Sam told her, “It isn’t safe for a new wolf to be around humans. Don’t go visit old friends. Stay out of crowded areas. You shouldn’t get too close to your mom, even.”

“I’d never hurt my mom,” she snapped.

Now he wouldn’t look her in the eyes either. “None of us know what we’re capable of,” he said quietly.

And suddenly she saw her father gasping for air at her feet. She saw him turning blue, grasping at his chest, eyes open and terrified. It was an image she would never forget. And she would never forgive herself for it.

Leah tuned out the rest of the conversation. Her mother tried to advocate for her, said the reservation’s clinic needed a nurse as much as the pack needed another wolf. She could serve the community with her other skills and still patrol. Sam forbade this; besides the fact that he didn’t think she was safe to be around vulnerable humans, he needed her to be available to join a hunt at any moment. She needed to listen for her brothers’ calls even when she wasn’t on patrol. And since they were still in high school and she already had an associate’s degree, she would take a disproportionate number of shifts to allow the younger pack members to stay in school as long as possible. She would have to notify the university that she was taking a leave of absence after her father’s death.

Leah felt nauseous. The life she was building was vanishing into darkness only to be replaced by an existence dedicated to isolation, battle, and death. All her hard work, what was it for? What had been the point? Why did she dedicate her life to helping people only to be told that her true mission was violence? Was this all that was in store for her?

Eventually she noticed that every council member was frowning at her but her mother, and Billy was trying to get her attention. “What?”

“Do you agree?” the chief asked.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" Leah said.

Sam answered, "Not really."

Sue protested again, but Leah just stood up. There was no point in saying anything. There was no point in anything. She wanted to walk out the door, through the woods, and straight off the edge of the cliff. But she caught sight of her mother’s dismayed expression, and she put on a brave face. "It's okay, mom. It’ll be okay. I’ll be okay.”

Sam stood and gestured at the door. “It’s time for your first patrol.”

She took a deep breath, hoping it could somehow hold her upright, and followed him into the night.

Sue called out behind them, "Wait, where's my son?"

Sam glanced back, "I'll send him home soon. He'll be hungry. He can get a good night's sleep, but we'll need him on patrol after school tomorrow. "

"He's just a boy," Sue began, a pleading tone in her voice.

Sam sighed, "I know. They all are."

When they were sheltered by the trees, Leah waited for Sam to speak. She didn't know what to do with her arms, so she folded them over her chest. She stared at a spot over his shoulder. He cleared his throat. "I know this isn't the best time, and I really am sorry about your father. But there is no good time, and we need to get you up to speed."

"Can you let Seth go home, then?"

He nodded. "Yes." He pointed at a thick copse of firs. "I'm just going to…"

"Sure." She turned around to give him privacy, and spotted the trunk of a tree. A heart was carved into the bark, and it contained the letters "SU + LC". She abruptly turned her back on it, wishing she could go back in time and tell her younger self to stay away from Sam.

He coughed, and she realized he was once again human and clothed. "Oh. That's… Is that... ours?"

It made her sick that he had to ask. If he had already forgotten, why couldn't she? "Does it matter?"

"I guess..." He had no idea what to say.

"This isn't why you dragged me out here, is it?" she snapped. "I don't think ether one of us wants to take a stroll down memory lane."

"Of course not. We need to work on your shifting skills."

She couldn't think of anything less appealing than sharing headspace with Sam again. "Is it really necessary for us to do this together?"

"I can't ask someone else to cover another one of my shifts."

"So I'll wait until the next shift, then. I don't want to know what's going on in your brain, and you sure as hell don't want to know what's going on in mine."

He sounded exasperated. "Leah, we can't avoid each other forever. The community is too small, the reservation is too small, the pack is too small."

She insisted, "That doesn't mean we can't try! Or I can just go back to Pullman where I belong, and we never have to see each other again."

He actually looked momentarily hurt. "You don't mean that."

"Oh, but I do!"

He just shook his head. "You know it’s not an option."

She gritted her teeth. There really was no point in fighting. "Fine. Then tell me what I'm doing out here."

"Good. You need to learn to control when you phase in and out. It's really strange at first, but it won't hurt, not like it did the first time."

"That's something, anyway," she said, although she wasn't sure she believed him. "But I still don't get it. I don’t understand how."

"You have to get angry,” Sam explained. “That's what makes you phase. That, or the sight or scent of a vampire. But seeing as I don't have one of those handy…"

"I just have to get properly pissed off?" At his nod, she said, "Well, that shouldn't be too hard."

"Just take your clothes off first. You don't want them to rip to shreds."

She gaped at him. "You can't be serious. I'm just supposed to get naked in the middle of the woods?"

This time it was he who turned around, placing his back to her. "Unless you want to ruin your clothes."

She froze while he waited, and she felt herself begin to tremble with anger. This couldn't possibly get more humiliating. When she realized that her embarrassment brought her wolf close to the surface, and that she was, indeed, about to phase, she angrily whipped off her clothes. Then she glanced up and realized that Sam had turned slightly, and he was peeking at her out of the corner of his eye. Then there was nothing she could have done to stop the change.

 _What the hell?_ She yelled at Sam, but he hadn't yet phased in. She took a step toward him and growled menacingly.

She heard someone else's voice. It sounded like Jacob. _What's going on?_

 _He was looking at me._ She showed him what had just happened.

As Sam moved further into the woods so that he could phase in privacy, Jacob inadvertently revealed what he had seen in Sam's mind earlier that day. He was tormented by Leah's accusation that he didn't see Emily as she actually was. He was angry that she had said anything to challenge him, but he was even more horrified when he went home only to realize that she was right. It was actually very difficult for him to tell. When he looked at Emily directly, he could see her scars for a moment at a time, but the image wavered. If he glanced down her body, he saw shifting pictures. It looked like she was expanding and contracting, very slightly, every time he blinked. He couldn't tell which image was true and which was false, or if reality was somewhere in between. It was only when he concentrated on something else and saw her out of the corner of his eye that she remained stable. It was hard to tell since he couldn't examine her directly, but it seemed that Leah was correct. She didn't look quite like he thought she did. That led him to wonder: if the person he thought he saw wasn't Emily, who was she? The fantasy body he had conjured looked very familiar. Could it belong to Leah, the woman he now remembered was once his great love?

By now he had phased in. He tried to explain, _I just wanted to know. Jake, you can go home. Thanks for covering._

 _What?_ _Don't go!_ Leah didn't want to be left alone with Sam.

But Jacob was long overdue to go home. _Sorry guys. My dad needs my help. I'll be on again tomorrow too._ And then he was gone.

Leah felt him disappear, and then there was no one else but Sam. He couldn't hide the fact that he was thinking about the way she looked and comparing her to the picture his mind. She couldn't believe his nerve. _Even if that was okay, which it isn't, even if I'd given you permission to look, which I didn't, it isn't going to tell you anything. My body's changed._

 _Not that much,_ he said.

She glared at him. _How would you know? You forgot me._

 _That's not true, not entirely,_ he denied.

 _Really?_ she argued. _I don't think you even remembered who I was when I phased in. I wouldn't have thought it was possible, not until it happened to us. We were together for years, Sam. Years. We meant something to each other._ She was saying more than she meant to, revealing the depths of her pain to the one person she wanted to hide it from the most. But she was bare for him.  

 _I know,_ he said despairingly.

She scoffed. _Bullshit. You forgot about me. I know that now. I still can't believe it, exactly, but it's the truth. Although I still don't understand how, and I definitely don't understand why._

 _I don't know either,_ he admitted. _But I'm beginning to understand that I really did not forget, not completely. I know It didn't happen all at once, all of a sudden. I remember some things from early on, right after the imprint, I remembered you then. Vividly. The memories... they slipped away somehow, after, but not completely._

_What's that supposed to mean? You're not making any sense. Either you remembered me or you didn't. What happened when you still saw my dad around and knew he had a kid away from home? That Seth had an older sister out there somewhere?_

What she said was painfully accurate, at least during waking hours. He knew of her without recalling specifics. He struggled to explain. _It was a little like that. I knew who you were in a vague sense, but not who you were to me._ At night, however, the situation was entirely different.

In order to hide how deeply it stung, she said sarcastically, _Congratulations. Your amnesia is not complete._

 _But that's not all,_ he said quietly. She saw hazy, half-complete, disjointed pictures in his mind: a pretty smile, soft skin, and sparkling brown eyes. She felt a fleeting but sweet sensation of warmth and contentment. She heard the echo of a beloved voice whispering in his ear. _I thought they were dreams._

She felt sick to her stomach. _But they were memories._

_Yes. Of you._

The part of her that was still in love with him wanted to be overjoyed, wanted to hope. She wondered if she could get him back. A few months ago, she would have taken a desperate chance and thrown herself at him. She would have humiliated herself if only he would listen. But the greater part of her that had started to move on was dismayed. She wasn't the same girl whose heart he had broken. She had lost nearly everything, but she still had her pride.

He knew he was supposed to be teaching her how to phase, outlining patrol routes and cementing her role as a protector. Instead he urged her, _Tell me. Tell me about us. Help me remember._

She wanted to. What they had was once innocent and pure, honest and true, passionate and loving, and it could have lasted a lifetime if imprinting had not intervened. She was certain of it, and though his mind was clouded, somehow, so was he. They had been happy. Very happy. But now they were broken, and she knew it was beyond repair. _Why? What's the point?_ She had already learned that they would not get their happily ever after, not in this life, and the past few days had only showed her that the best she could hope for was simply to survive. And even that felt ambitious.

 _That was me. That life, it was mine. It was ours_ , he said. He sounded so confused.

What was he doing? Hadn't he just spent the evening telling her that everything was different now? That their only purpose was to protect and serve, and that their lives were not their own any longer? _So? It isn't anymore, isn't that right?_

But he persisted, staring at her. _And you. You were mine._ Now she saw something flare in his eyes. But it wasn't the light she remembered. It was something much darker.

 _Was,_ she emphasized. _I'm no one's possession. Do you understand? You might be able to order me around, but I don't belong to you or anyone else._

He insisted, _But you did. You were mine, weren't you? You gave yourself to me._ He struggled to unearth a buried memory. The surrounding details were hazy and unclear, but the image was unmistakable. He saw her sleeping peacefully in her bed. She was young, her features still soft, and he found her utterly enchanting. Inevitably and without conscious thought, he had reached a hand out to tuck stray hair behind her ear. He remembered being more anxious than he had ever been, terrified even, but when she opened her eyes sleepily and smiled sweetly at him, all the awkwardness had faded away. From there, the memory slipped forward and back without warning. She saw flashes of smooth skin, the rise of her collarbone, the shell of her ear, her own eyes slipping shut, the taste of salt. It was new and overwhelming. Sam didn't understand it, and he felt the desperate need to know more. But she recognized it immediately, and she couldn't stop her corresponding memory from surfacing: it was their first time.

She was 15 and he was 16. They were in her bedroom. Harry and Sue had gone to Seattle for the weekend. Seth was at a friend's house. Her parents had been reluctant to let her stay by herself knowing that her boyfriend might have free reign of the house, but Sam was supposed to go on a camping trip with three other boys. He left as planned, but they hadn't counted on him sneaking back early and letting himself into the house. They didn’t think he would crawl into her bed, that he would kiss her breathless, or that she would kiss him back just as fervently. Leah herself hadn’t anticipated the way her clothes would feel binding in a way they never had before, how hot his skin would feel against hers, or that she would do anything he asked when he looked at her with such intensity in his eyes. She had no idea that anything could simultaneously hurt so badly and yet feel so overwhelmingly good.

As she remembered, it all came rushing back to Sam. The details became clear. It had been late, and he found her asleep in her bed. He had been anticipating this moment for a long time, but now that he was there, he hardly knew what to do. For a long time, he just looked at her. She was so pretty. It took the breath from his lungs and brought him down on his haunches, both in his memory and in his wolf body. _Look at you…_

 _What are you doing?_ she pleaded.

 _I remember. You helped me remember._ He went on. He replayed the memory from start to finish. He remembered touching her cheek, tasting her lips, rolling her beneath him. He remembered their whispered words, the sound of her giggles, the promises they made to one another. He saw his own hands fumbling to remove her cotton pajamas, felt the way her fingers gripped his arms, knew she had tugged on his hair in a way that drove him crazy with lust. He recalled the way he thought he might die if he saw her naked, and then once he did, he was sure he had found heaven when he finally knew what it was like to be inside her. She had gasped as tears sprung to her eyes, and her pain was the only reason he didn’t explode immediately. He had kissed the salt from her cheeks and whispered his love to her until she trembled beneath him with need instead of pain, and then he had finally started to move.

 _Stop. Just stop,_ she begged. _Don’t do this. There’s no point._

 _You were mine,_ he repeated in awe.

Her wolf bared its teeth and puffed up to her largest size. She advanced toward him where he was sitting in the dirt. _And I thought you were mine. But you’re not anymore, and I’m not anymore. So unless you’ve got some way to turn back time and erase the last few months, just stop._

He wanted to, and if they had been humans, he would have stopped speaking or changed the subject. But now that the memory had returned, he had no way to erase it again. _I don’t know how._

_Then at least leave me alone! Show me how to phase back so I can go, or you get out of my brain!_

_I have to patrol tonight. I told you that already. So I can’t go anywhere._

_I’m here,_ she pointed out. _I’ll patrol. How hard can it be?_

_It’s easy and boring until something happens, and trust me, you don’t want to be out here on your own the first time something bad happens._

_So show me how to phase back!_

He agreed, _Fine._

And he tried. So did she. But something had happened. She had come back and she had brought her memories with her, and now he had access to them. They unlocked something in him, some door that the imprint had closed. Memory after memory was spilling out uncontrollably.

He tried to ignore them. _Think about how different grass feels under your feet than it does under your paws._ He saw her kicking off her shoes and running barefoot through the grass as he chased her behind the school. _Think about your human hands, about gripping things tightly, about how sensitive the tips of your fingers are._ He thought about holding her small hand in his large one. _Think about your human mouth, the way your teeth feel against your tongue, the movement of your lips to make words._ The lushness of her pink lips appeared. He had loved the curve of her sweet smile. _Focus on your human body._ The swell of her breasts appeared in his mind’s eye.

_Jesus, Sam, stop it! That’s not helping at all!_

_I know. I know._ He did, and he was ashamed. The imprint sent a wave of guilt washing through him, but it wasn’t for the torture he was putting Leah through, it was for his attention to a woman other than Emily. _I’ve got an imprint. I’ve got no business thinking about anybody else._

 _Emily?_ she raged. _You’re dragging me kicking and screaming down memory lane with you, and all you have to say is that Emily won’t like it? Fuck you!_

She started to throw herself at him in her fury, but the pack mind suddenly shifted, and another part of the forest appeared before her eyes, disorienting her. She stumbled and Sam leapt out of her path. _What the hell are you guys doing?_ an irritable voice asked.

 _Trying to get Leah to phase. It isn’t going very well,_ Sam explained.

Paul sarcastically responded, _Shocking. I wonder why that is. I can’t imagine a better teacher for her than you._

 _What are you doing here? You’re not on for hours._ Sam demanded coldly. He tried to mask how badly he had lost control of the situation by snapping at Paul.

 _I'm being rudely interrupted. A little pup had the balls to barge in during a hot date and drag me out here._ Apparently Leah’s brother was very unhappy to be sent home by Sam only to realize that his sister would be left alone with her ex. He had initially offered to stay himself, but Sam had refused. When Jacob got home, Seth was waiting to ask Jacob to return as a buffer, but Billy needed his assistance. He tried Embry’s house, but no one was home. He thought Jared would only make things worse, so he knocked on Paul’s door, where he found a slightly drunken blonde girl hanging off him. Paul had agreed to help, making a big show of how annoyed he was to be interrupted. What he hadn’t told Seth was that he was relieved for the distraction. He had made the mistake of hooking up with Lauren Mallory at a house party a month before, and she hadn’t left him alone since. Although she was an easy enough lay, he found her alternately tediously boring or unbearably irritating, and she wasn’t nearly as good in bed as she thought she was.

Leah was startled by his unfiltered thoughts. _Is that any way to talk about your girlfriend?_

He laughed so hard he barked out loud. _Girlfriend? I don’t think so. She’s just some slut._

Leah recoiled at the summary judgement. Is this how all men talked about women, or just Paul? She once thought Sam was different, but apparently the only thing he remembered about her was the sex. _That's not true_ , he bristled. _I loved you._ He somehow seemed startled that it was true.

She was terrified that he would start thinking about her again, exposing her once more to their brother. _Shut up, Sam. Don't go there._

 _Oh, hey now,_ Paul exclaimed. _I did interrupt something, didn't I?_

 _Yes!_ Sam snapped.

Fearing Paul would leave, Leah answered, _No, nothing at all._

 _Nothing, huh?_ Paul probed both their minds. _Doesn't look like nothing._

Sam answered irritably, _Stay out of it. It's not your business._

 _Sure,_ Paul responded sarcastically. _It's no one's business but yours and Leah's. Oh yeah, and Emily's, isn't that right?_

Sam snarled, _Don't you say a word to her! You leave her out of this!_

Paul scoffed, _I think if she wanted to stay out of whatever's going on between the two of you, it's a little too late for that. Where does she think you are right now, anyway?_

_She knows I'm patrolling._

_She know you're patrolling with Leah?_ Sam silence was a clear answer. _Shit, you haven't even told her Leah phased, have you? You lied to her, didn't you?_

 _I didn't lie!_ Sam denied. _She just assumed it was Seth who phased._

 _And you didn't fill her in on the rest,_ Paul deduced.

Sam tried to justify it. _I don't want to upset her._

Leah questioned, _Why would me being here upset her? It's not like I matter to either one of you._

 _She probably doesn't like to be reminded of what a homewrecker she is,_ Paul muttered.

 _Shut it, Paul!_ Sam growled. He turned to Leah and told her, _That's not true. You're important to both of us. She loves you and she misses you._

 _She has a funny way of showing me she loves me!_ Leah exclaimed.

_Please understand. This has been difficult for her. You weren't the only one who lost something. She lost her best friend too._

Leah couldn't believe his audacity. _What did she expect? That I would just congratulate you? That I would just happily step aside? Emily and I weren't just two friends who had crushes on the same guy. You and I were engaged!_

_I know. And you two were best friends. She lost her best friend when this happened._

Leah raged, _Do you expect me to feel bad for her or something?_

 _It hasn't been easy on her,_ Sam stubbornly persisted.

 _It shouldn't be easy to take over someone's life!_ Leah snarled. _She's sleeping in my bed, in my house, with my fiancé. You think taking over someone else's existence is hard? Try losing it all, clawing your way out to find something else, and then having that all ripped away, just when you finally think things are getting better. And you want me to work up some sympathy for her? I haven't even buried my father yet!_

 _I am sorry about that,_ Sam said sincerely. _Losing Harry is a big blow to everyone._

_You know, I don't really care how much of a loss he was to everyone else. We, his family, we were the ones who lost the most. Why can't you leave me alone to grieve in peace?_

_There's just no way to avoid each other, Lee Lee._ She winced at the nickname, and Sam found himself startled. He hadn't remembered calling her that before it slipped out of his mouth. Rather than examine it further, he said, _It's like I was saying before. This community is just too small. There are so few people that we can talk to about what we really are. Right now you're too volatile to be around other people, but eventually you'll have better control. I hope that when that time comes, you'll consider trying to be friends with Emily again. She misses you, and the two of you used to be so close._

Leah couldn't believe what Sam was asking. Not only was she supposed to accept that her life in Pullman was over, quit her job, drop out of school, isolate herself from other people, and dedicate her life to chasing monsters, she was forced to face Sam as both a pack brother and her Alpha, give up control to the man who had broken her heart, and now he wanted her to make nice with the friend she had believed would never betray her? It would have been laughable if it wasn't so painful. _I can't believe you're asking me that. But I should learn to stop being surprised by anything either one of you does._

Paul, too, thought it was a ridiculous idea. _Dude, are you high? Why do you think Leah would ever agree to that? And why do you think Emily would even want it? Shouldn't you tell her about Leah first?_

Sam stammered, _Of course I should. I will._

Paul had an idea. _Then you'd better hurry up if you want to give her the news yourself. Jared told me that Kim's planning on hanging out at your place tonight. If you don't get back there soon, Emily's going to hear it from her, and then she's going to wonder why you didn't tell her yourself._

By then, Paul had arrived in front of them. He faced Sam. _It isn't going to look good, you know. If she finds out from Kim, she's going to think you deliberately kept it from her._

Sam began to panic. _She can't think that. It'll hurt her feelings. I can't do that to her._

Paul nodded his head in the direction of Sam's cabin. _Then I think you'd better get going. You want to catch Emily and talk to her before Kim gets there._

Sam looked back and forth between Leah and the forest. _I can't leave Leah out here to patrol by herself. She's not trained yet._

Paul sighed heavily. _You already ruined my night. If you take my weekend patrols this week, maybe I can cover._

Sam was too distracted by the potential of Emily's distress to notice that Paul was getting exactly what he wanted. _Yeah. Yeah, thanks. That way I can go talk to Em._

Leah was offended that he would abandon her so easily, but more than that, she was relieved. This version of Sam did nothing but hurt her. And she knew she was better off without him. He disappeared, and she suddenly felt lighter. She turned to Paul. _I'm sorry I interrupted your night. Especially since I know you were up really late with me yesterday, too. You must be exhausted by now._

He flashed up an image of a half naked Lauren. _Hey, I wasn't exactly planning on sleeping much tonight anyway, you know?_

 _Ugh, Paul. I don't want to see that._ Leah couldn't decide if she should laugh or be disgusted. She did both. It was certainly easier than thinking about Sam and Emily. _You're an absolute pig, aren't you?_

_No, baby. I'm the big, bad wolf._

Leah groaned. _Oh, god. That's terrible. What an awful joke._

He smirked at her. _You wouldn't say that if you knew me better. I'm totally serious._

_That's worse!_

He leered at her. _Just ask Lauren. She’ll tell you._

_So, she's not your girlfriend. Friend with benefits or something?_

He snorted. _Hardly. We're not exactly friends._

Leah frowned. _Do you even like this girl?_

 _Meh. She's okay._ He shrugged his shoulders, and she chuckled at the sight. The movement was incongruous on his imposing form.

_Why do you hang out with her then?_

_Hey, mediocre sex is better than no sex. But she's not my girlfriend for a reason. Plus I'm not leading her on or anything. She doesn't think we're exclusive or even dating._

The entire concept of a casual sexual relationship was strange to Leah. She knew that it was commonplace, but she had spent her entire adolescence in love with one boy who had loved her back. To her, sex was intimate, personal, and loving. It made her wonder if Lauren thought that her relationship with Paul was as casual as he did. Either way, it was none of her business. _Huh. Well, thanks for getting rid of Sam. I don't think I could have taken another minute, let alone the rest of the night._

_No problem. He's got his head so far up Emily's ass. It's nice to be able to use that to my advantage for once._

She looked at him appraisingly. _You really like to screw with him, don't you?_

 _It's one of my favorite hobbies._ Paul gave her a predatory grin. _He's a complete douche, and I can't stand how much he loves to throw around alpha orders._

_I’m glad he’s gone. But what do we do now?_

_I’ll show you around a bit more. Come on._ He gestured with his snout. _Go that way. I’ll show you the border again. It takes a while to get used to the forest enough to know where the invisible lines are, and you don’t want to accidentally step over. I’m not sure if any of the Cullens are here right now, but we can see if we catch any of their scents._ As they trotted beside each other, she caught him examining her newly shorn coat. She could tell that he wanted to say something else, but he held it back. Instead he said, _Your fur looks good._

_Uh, thanks? And I am sorry to have interrupted your plans._

_Don't sweat it. I'm not, and now I get my whole weekend free._ He gave her a sidelong glance and paused. _Do you have any plans?_

She spoke without thinking. _You mean besides going to my dad’s funeral, quitting my job and dropping out of school to hunt vampires?_

_Okay, okay. Stupid question._

He was quiet after that. It never occurred to her that he might have been hinting something when he asked about her weekend.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Babs81410, my lovely beta.


	8. Boundaries

Leah didn’t know if the funeral lasted twenty hours or twenty minutes. It didn’t really matter either way. She spent the entire service staring at a photograph of Harry and trying not to phase. She and Seth nearly broke each other’s hands gripping tightly to each other. Several people said nice things about her father, but she didn’t hear them. All she heard were the uneven sounds of her mother sniffling and her brother’s shaky breaths. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t cry. At some point Rachel, who came home for the service, tugged her to her feet, and the girls held each other tightly. Rachel told her not to worry about their rent, the rest of the school year, or finding a subletter, and she was grateful. Then a succession of people shook her hand and told her how sorry they were. She nodded blankly at them, barely registering the blur of faces in front of her, until she saw Emily approach. Rachel stiffened beside Leah as her cousin gave Sue an awkward hug and peered at her over Sue’s shoulder. Leah stared back, too numb to muster up any kind of reaction. After Sue released her, Emily started to move forward toward Leah and Seth, but Sam pulled her back, whispering in her ear that it wasn’t safe. Emily obediently retreated as Sam kissed her hair, pushed her behind him, and cleared his throat and told them how sorry they were. Leah looked past him into her father’s open casket and said nothing. She was probably supposed to be angry that Sam didn’t think she could control herself, jealous that they were flaunting themselves in front of her, or bitter that they had had the audacity to talk to her. Instead all she felt was emptiness.

She wasn’t sure how she got from the funeral home to the cemetery. She didn’t hear Billy’s blessing as her father was lowered into the ground. When someone handed her a rose to throw onto the grave, she didn’t feel it when a thorn pierced the skin of her palm, and she didn’t notice how quickly the wound closed over. She didn’t register the cold drops landing on her skin when it began to rain. She didn’t hear Charlie Swan ask her to get into her mother’s car, and it didn’t register when Paul pulled her toward it, nor did she hear it when he told her that he had liked Harry before shutting the car door. She wasn’t sure how many people came back to their house. She didn’t eat any of the food that was offered to her. She slipped up the stairs, closed her door, and lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She didn't bother to kick off her black pumps. All she heard was the sound of blood rushing through her ears.

For some reason, she couldn’t fall asleep for hours. She wasn’t dwelling on anything; her mind was oddly blank. She was more tired than she had ever been. By eleven PM, the house was quiet and dark. But she stared at the clock until three AM.

The next morning, she wished her insomnia had lasted longer. She only had one dream, but it replayed over and over: Harry collapsing, gasping for air, and clutching at his chest, staring at her in horror the entire time.

The next day she was scheduled for patrol at seven AM. She woke at six feeling more tired than she had before she went to sleep. But the thought of facing the dream again made her nauseous, so she got out of bed and waited for her shift to start. Someone had left half a coffee cake on the table. Her father loved coffee cake. She left the house without taking a single bite, and she stepped out into the rain.

Sam was quiet when she phased in. They greeted each other carefully, and he told her that he would be leaving as soon as Embry arrived. Eventually she might patrol alone, but for now he wanted her and Seth to have partners. He concentrated on the path in front of him as he ran, and she headed for the water. She tried not to read his mind, but it was like trying to ignore someone shouting directly into her ear. Thankfully he wasn’t thinking about her or Emily; he was trying to remember his father, who had left years before and never returned.

 _Do you remember him?_ Sam asked.

Leah did. As children they practically lived at one another’s houses. She recalled Joshua vividly. Sam looked just like him. He was handsome, athletic, and charming when he wanted to be, but she had always been intimidated by him, because it wasn’t often that he wanted to be charming, at least not to children. But Sam had worshipped him, vying for his father's attention, seeking his approval, and wanting more time than he was willing to give. Leah remembered him, but not fondly. _Of course._

 _I don't, not much anyway_. Leah found that hard to believe, or she would have before she found out that Sam hardly remembered her either. He continued, _I was thinking about your dad, and I realized that I remember him way better than my own father._

_Well, he’s been around, so I guess that’s not surprising._

_Yeah, but I think it's more than that. I mean, I can see that you remember details about my dad that I had forgotten. Why is that? Why can't I remember?_

She sighed. _Sam, I don't think I'm the right person to talk to about this, do you?_ If anything, she wished she could wipe her memory as clean as he seemed to have done.

_Who else can I ask?_

_I don't know, your mom?_

_She doesn't understand. She doesn't get why I don't remember things I should know._

_I don't understand either._

_I know, but I don't have anyone else to ask, and you know more than she does._

_Not about your dad._ She sighed in resignation. _What do you want to know?_

The most important question, the one she could not answer, simmered under the surface. No one could tell him why Joshua had left. What he actually asked was, _What was he like?_

 _It depended on his mood, I guess._ She showed him memories he had once held dear, memories which he later consciously tried to block out after his father abandoned him. She showed him the way Joshua had taught him to throw a baseball, bought them ice cream, and expertly grilled steak.

 _Regular dad stuff, huh?_ Sam noted.

_And the rest of the time?_

She shifted uncomfortably. What was she supposed to tell him? That his father was moody, neglectful, even cruel? That Sam had idolized him as a child, but Joshua had never been worthy of such adoration? That once he had left, he had never looked back? _I don't think he was too interested in fatherhood._

A knot formed in his stomach, but he ignored it. _You were there, weren't you?_

 _Sometimes,_ she repeated. She didn't know what else to tell him.

_Most of the time?_

_I guess. You were at my house more than I was at yours._

As soon as she spoke the words, she was afraid she would stimulate another unwanted conversation about their past. He started to say, _I think I remember…_

Thankfully, Embry chose that moment to phase in. _Hi, guys. Any activity tonight?_

Sam answered, _Quiet so far._

Embry answered, _I can't decide if I want it to stay that way or not. These patrols can get pretty damn boring._

Leah thought that being bored was the very least of her problems. She didn't exactly relish the idea of facing down a hostile vampire, which likely would mean a battle to the death. She was as interested in killing as she was in dying. Embry picked up on her hesitation. He was used to being teased by his brothers about his own reluctance toward violence. They called him a pansy or a wuss. It didn't help that he had been the smallest before the Clearwaters phased. He was quicker than Jared, but his build was slighter. He wasn't as fierce a fighter as Paul, nor was he the strategist that Jared was. Sam had the most experience, and Jacob, despite his youth and inexperience, had the most natural aptitude toward their unique set of skills. He was glad to give up his place at the bottom of the pack hierarchy, and he looked forward to establishing dominance over another wolf. _This is probably why there were never female wolves before. I hope you’re up for the job._

 _I’ll be ready,_ she replied defensively.

 _You getting the hang of phasing yet? Have you done any sparring? Learned how to track?_ Embry challenged.

 _Not yet,_ she admitted.

 _Sam,_ Embry asked, _are you sure she can handle this? That redheaded leech has been all up in our stuff as it is, and that’s with an experienced pack chasing her down. Am I safe with her watching my back?_

Sam didn’t defend her at all. _What do you suggest? That I pull a triple shift and stay? That I ask Paul and Jake to do doubles again? We’re spread too thin already. Besides, it’s not all bad. Leah’s going to be covering nights, which means you can actually get some sleep this week._

 _Wait, I am?_ she protested. _The schedule you gave me had seven days straight on it, day shifts. You said it was so the boys could go to school._

 _I was originally going to take nights,_ Sam explained, _but Em doesn’t like to sleep alone. So you’ve got nights for the next two weeks._

Nausea rolled through Leah’s belly. Everything was about Emily, wasn’t it? _And I know you said I’d have more shifts because you’re making me drop out of school, but every night and no days off for two weeks? That’s not fair! That’s way more than anyone else…_

 _Except me,_ Sam pointed out. _We all have to do our duty. None of us has a choice. Now it’s time for me to go home. Embry, show Leah how to track. There’s a scent trail left behind from the last time the redheaded leech trespassed. It’s old and degraded, but it’ll do for practice._

And then he was gone. Embry waited for Leah to join him along the northern border of their territory. He knew how irritated she was at the schedule she had been given. _At least by the time you got here, there are seven of us. When I first phased in, there were only four. You should consider yourself lucky._

He was referring to the way they could split shifts between more protectors, but Leah could find no silver lining to the black cloud hanging over her head, particularly since half the shifts were hers. _Right. Lucky._ Sarcasm laced her tone.

 _At least you’re not isolated,_ he pointed out, although she would have given anything to be alone in her brain again. _Sam was alone for months. Do you have any idea what that was like for him?_

 _He wasn’t alone!_ she growled. She remembered those months vividly, and in some ways, better than Sam himself. Once he returned from his self-imposed exile, they had clung to each other. Even though she didn’t know what was going on, she gave him her unconditional love and support. They had been best friends, and she had done her very best to care of him. In the end, he was the one who chose not to tell her anything, who deemed her worthless enough to drop without a second look, but she knew he had been happy with her before Emily came along.

 _Yeah, but he had no pack. Had no imprint._ Embry had not known either Sam or Leah well prior to joining the pack. He only knew Sam’s past from what Sam remembered, and Sam remembered only Emily. _It was different, after. It sucks what happened to you, but after he imprinted on her, he could tell her everything, talk freely. He could be open with someone. Not all of us have that, you know. You’ve got your brother by your side. Your mom knows what’s going on. Do you know how amazing that is? How lucky you are?_

From his old life, the only person who knew Embry’s secret was Jacob. His mother was not allowed, nor any of his other friends. For him, the other pack members were his only support system, and he was jealous that Leah’s family knew what was going on but his did not. But Leah knew that the cost of that knowledge was far too high, and the last thing she felt was lucky. _She knows because I exploded in front of her! Seth is only in the pack because I phased in front of him and scared him half to death! He wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for me. It’s not a good thing that either of them know. It’s not a good thing that I gave my dad a heart attack turning into this thing!_

 _That’s not what I meant,_ Embry insisted. _I’m just saying you should count your blessings, is all._

 _I had a lot of blessings before this happened!_ she told him. _But now my dad is gone, I’m not allowed to see my friends, and my future has disappeared. If I’m keeping a running tally, I’m pretty sure that means I’ve got almost nothing left._

Embry bristled, _Yeah, well, you’re not the only one who’s lost something here. My mom thinks I’m a delinquent because I can’t tell her where I’m going all the time. I’m grounded until I’m thirty, and I have to sneak out of the house just to patrol. I’ve had to quit everything I was doing except school in order to patrol, but I can barely keep that up. My grades are slipping. I can't stay awake in class. Other than Jake, my other friends think I’m a dick for ditching them. It hasn’t been a cakewalk for me either._

 _This is just sheer misery, isn’t it? It doesn’t get better, does it?_ she asked plaintively.

He would never have said it out loud, but he couldn’t help her from hearing him think that she wasn’t making things any better. He wished he hadn’t been paired with her for the day’s patrol.

Likewise, she couldn’t filter her response. _Pretty sure none of the shit that’s ruining your life is my fault._

 _I never said it was,_ he snapped. _It goes both ways, you know._ To himself, he thought she was a whiny bitch, particularly compared to Emily, who cooked and cared for the pack without complaint. He didn’t mean to say the words to Leah, and if they were in human form, he never would have let the sentiment escape his lips. But she felt them as surely as if he had branded her with them. And she could think of few things as painful as being unfavorably compared to the woman who had taken her fiancé.

_You bastard! You don’t even know me._

Leah didn’t mean anything specific by the insult. She lashed out with a generic epithet. But Embry was especially sensitive about being called a bastard. His mother had never told him who his father was, and he had always felt stigmatized by it. He had grown up hearing that he wasn’t Quileute and that he didn’t belong. Joining the pack had been a total surprise, not only to him, but also to his brothers, who were watching for signs that Jacob, Quil, and Seth would phase, but had totally overlooked him. _Don’t call me that!_

_If you don’t want me calling you a bastard, don’t call me a bitch!_

Again, the unfiltered pack mind served them badly. In real life, Embry would have kept his response to himself. But the psychic link made it impossible. _Look at yourself. You are literally a bitch!_

Leah hated it. She hated that he called her a bitch, and she hated how true it was. _Stop it. For god’s sake. Stop it. Can’t you just leave me alone?_ she begged. _You don’t want to be here and I don’t want you here either._

_Where am I supposed to go? My shift isn’t up for twelve hours. Jesus, I thought it would be easier with a bigger pack, but this is worse. I’ll take the extra shifts any day._

_Trust me,_ she answered. _I wish I could turn back time and somehow keep myself from turning into this monster. But I can’t. So just get out of here. Phase out. Go home. I’ll do this patrol by myself._

_But Sam said…_

_Who cares what Sam said?_ She was exasperated. _Before Seth and I showed up, did you do all your patrols in pairs?_

_All of them? There was no way. There were only four of us. It was impossible._

Despite her temper, she did feel bad for him. He might not be suffering from grief in the same way that she was, but his transformation hadn’t been easy on him either. _So get out of here,_ she urged. _Go home. I’ll do this shift by myself. Spend the day with your mom or something. She thinks you’re off getting in trouble? Go show her you’re not some juvenile delinquent._

 _You serious?_ He was skeptical. _What if something happens? You honestly think you’re prepared to deal with it?_

_Of course not, but were you the first time you did a solo patrol? Did preparation help you the first time you faced a vampire?_

_No,_ he admitted. _It was basically all instinct. The harder thing actually isn’t chasing and taking down a vamp. For that all you have to do is let your wolf take over. The harder thing is knowing when to stop, when not to attack._

She asked, _You mean the Cullens? I’m not supposed to attack the Cullens._

_Yeah, not unless they trespass on our lands._

She flashed their faces up one by one. She had learned their faces quickly though she had never met any of them. She didn’t have good control over the transition between her human body and her animal one, nor could she control her temper. But neither of those things was necessary to fight a vampire. _So just don’t attack any of them, right?_

 _Yeah,_ Embry agreed. _Victoria’s supposed to die, but the Cullens aren’t. Run the border, stay out of sight of humans, and howl for backup if you see anything out of the ordinary. That’s pretty much it._

 _I think I can handle it,_ Leah told him. _Go home._

Embry wasn’t just tempted by the prospect of an afternoon off, he was exhausted, and he wasn’t exactly enjoying her company. But he wasn’t supposed to leave. _I don’t know…_

Now she simply begged. If he stayed, they would probably be at each other’s throats by the end of the shift. Until she grew a thicker skin, she needed to keep her distance from her packmates’ callous thoughts, and she had to figure out a way to hide her own thoughts from them. _Please. I just want it to be quiet for a little while._

_Yeah. I get that._

_Then will you go?_

He decided. _I’ll be listening, okay? Howl if you need anything. I’ll come._

As it turned out, she didn’t need him. Nothing happened. She was careful to avoid populated areas, and she moved silently and carefully when it was necessary to approach normal humans. No one saw her. She faithfully ran the border, and she even found and followed the last trail that Victoria had left when she violated their territory. Her wolf knew the scent and needed no education.

Of course, Sam wouldn't see it that way. As soon as Jared phased in, he asked about Embry, and she realized he would tattle to Sam at the first opportunity. He did so, and Sam was furious. It didn’t matter that nothing happened. He chastised Embry for neglecting his duty and abandoning his post. He was alarmed because Embry had never been cause for trouble before. He expected Paul to give him problems, but not Embry. Embry was humiliated, and he blamed Leah for convincing him to leave. Sam, too, laid the bulk of the blame at her feet. He was afraid that the others would think he favored her since they had once been so close, so he decided to be harder on her than anyone else. She felt trapped, and there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

During her waking hours Leah was tormented with memories. Sometimes she was able to find distraction, but none of it was good. Learning to control the transitions between her two forms was difficult. She had gotten very used to being competent, even exceptional, at whatever she tried, but this did not come naturally. She ran swiftly in her animal body, but that seemed to be her only strength. She was smaller than her brothers, weaker, and had the poorest control. The more she learned about her role as a protector, the more frustrated she became. Although there were a few advantages, fast healing, strength, power, speed, and halted aging, each adaptation only existed for a terrible reason. They only needed to heal quickly because they were so likely to be badly injured. They were only strong so they could withstand the assaults of vicious monsters. They were only powerful so that they could kill. They were only fast because the creatures they pursued moved at supernatural speeds. They only stopped aging so that they could serve the tribe indefinitely. The more she learned, the more she hated what she had become.

She also couldn't acclimate to staying awake all night long. She patrolled from seven in the evening until seven the next morning, night after night after night. By two or three in the morning, she was tired, and by the time her shift ended, she dragged herself home. She often said hello to Seth in passing as he left for school; her mother was usually already gone. The house felt even emptier than it was. The only thing that kept her from falling directly into bed was her hunger. She ate breakfast every day staring at Harry's empty chair. After breakfast she showered to keep herself from rendering her sheets filthy. She was always exhausted, but her brain didn't seem to understand that it was time to sleep. She tossed and turned, dozing intermittently. The daylight disturbed her rest, and if by some chance she managed to fall into a deep sleep, she dreamt of her father. Sometimes he was youthful and smiling, his hair black and his face unlined, and so, so large that she knew she must be small. He would toss her into the air as she squealed with laughter. Other times he was slightly older, crow's eyes had formed, and he didn't seem quite so large, but his smile was the same. He patiently helped her with her homework, warmly called her his princess, or grinned at her while she squirmed as he showed her how to clean a freshly caught fish. Every dream started off pleasant or happy. But they all ended the same, with gasping, terrified eyes, and death. She woke with her heart pounding and a silent scream at her lips, confused when she didn't hear a howl from her throat.

Sue provided some solace, but she herself was overwhelmed. She found comfort in her work, so she picked up extra shifts. She achieved a sense of accomplishment from working with patients, plus the loss of Harrys' income would not be replaced by his insurance claim, and she still had to pay the bills and wanted to send both her children to college. She knew she would have to work more in order to afford it. So Leah might go days without seeing her mother. Seth also grieved for his father in his own way. He couldn't walk through the vestibule of their house without envisioning his father collapsing on its floor, and he started to avoid it. Then he started avoiding the house altogether. After school, he didn't want to disturb his sleeping sister during her few hours of rest, and he didn't like sitting in the house listening to her cry in her sleep, so he spent most of his free time with one of his friends or packmates.

Because of this, Leah might go days on end without seeing anyone except her patrol partners, and they didn't hide the fact that they found her exasperating. Prior to her arrival, they had already felt stretched past of their limits. They had hoped that Seth's potential transformation might allow more distribution of patrols, but they had not anticipated his sister. They didn't know what to do with her, and they were completely unprepared for the depths of her pain.

Pack relations were tense in a way they had never been before. No one wanted to patrol with her, but neither did Sam trust her to patrol alone, or that was what he said in order to cover up his protective instinct toward her. He couldn't stand the idea of her facing a vampire by herself. In fact, he didn't want her to face a vampire at all. He overcompensated for the urge by going overboard and giving her a disproportionate number of shifts. He wanted her to have a patrol partner and would have preferred that partner to be himself, but she couldn't stand his presence in her mind. On the occasions when no one else was available, she had no choice to but to accept his invasion. She despised seeing into his brain and that he could see into hers, so she pretended to be as cold and unfeeling as possible to discourage him from paying attention to her. He saw right through the facade, of course, which only made her angry.

She had no idea what to do except beg for other partners. But they didn't want her. Embry didn't want to be anywhere near her. Jacob sided with his best friend and decided she was a bitch. But avoiding each other was impossible, and they eventually came to an uneasy truce, and when she patrolled with either one of them, she would do her best to stay as silent as possible, as would they. She didn't consider either one of them friends, far from it, but it was tolerable. She and Jared were completely unable to get along. In some ways he was worse than Sam, who, underneath it all, held the tenderest of feelings for her. Jared simply hated the way she challenged his faith in his imprint and thus hated her. He prattled on about Kim's virtues, or Emily's. He was thoughtlessly cruel, and in return she became defensive, and her reputation as the pack bitch only grew. Seth feared he would be ostracized if he made his allegiance to her known, and tried to remain as neutral as possible. They were able to get along with each while patrolling, but Sam wanted them each paired with a more experienced wolf and did not usually schedule them together.

Since no one else wanted to patrol with her, that left Paul. He, too, thought she was bitchy, irritating, and depressing. More than that, though, he also thought she was intriguing, fascinating, and sexy as hell.

A few nights into her new life, she left her house in the evening to find him waiting for her at the edge of the woods. He was leaning against the trunk of a tree and smirking at her. "Hey, Clearwater."

"Hey. What are you doing here?" They would patrol together that night, but there was no reason for him to show up in person. Their psychic connection made meeting largely unnecessary.

He shrugged. "Waiting for you. Waiting until the last possible moment to phase in."

"Oh, you don't like all the voices in your head, either?"

Paul shook his head. "No, actually I don't mind that. I've got nothing to hide, you know?"

"You mean you have no shame?" She thought of his unfiltered, testosterone-fueled stream of consciousness. He never even pretended to hold back.

"I do not. I'm proud of everything I've got, baby." He laughed. "But as for tonight, the longer I wait to show up, the more pissed off our high and mighty alpha is going to get. And if he sees that I came to get you first, that'll piss him off even more."

She smiled. "You really like to do that, don't you?"

"I normally like more of a challenge. It's just too easy to make him mad. But I'm not going to pass up any opportunity that comes my way, not when that prick is involved."

She cocked her head at him. "Why is that? What do you have against him?"

He pushed himself away from the tree. "Are you honestly asking me that? For real?"

She clarified, "Well, I know why he makes me crazy. But I'm not sure what that has to do with anyone else. All the other guys seem pretty convinced that he's a damn good alpha, and I'm just…" She let the rest of the sentence trail off. She wasn't trying to garner sympathy.

"Your right about him. It used to be he seemed to have his head screwed on straight, but not anymore. And if those other losers can't see it, it's because they're not paying enough attention. Knowing what you know, all that stuff from his past that he's forgotten, the stuff that's coming back in bits and pieces, it's so obvious that there are holes. His brain's like Swiss cheese. How can that be a good thing in a leader?"

"That is kind of scary," she admitted.

"Kind of? Try really fucking terrifying. This is a guy who doesn't hesitate to throw out alpha orders left and right. Orders you can't dispute, no matter how senseless they are."

She asked, "Does he have a habit of doing that?"

Paul knew well enough not to remind her that Sam had ordered her to phase into her human body in front of everyone, leaving her naked and huddling on the ground. "He forgets how literal the orders are. Once he ordered me to keep my mouth shut because I said something to piss him off. Sure, it kept me from saying some other obnoxious thing to him, which was what he wanted. But it also meant I literally couldn't open my mouth. I couldn't talk to my dad or eat anything until he lifted the order."

The corner of her lip turned up, and her eyes twinkled. "Are you sure he didn't say that on purpose? Maybe it wasn't as thoughtless as you think."

He grinned back at her, hoping the pretty smile on her face would remain. "Okay, maybe. But that sounds more like something I would do than he would do. It would have been funny if it was intentional. But I swear, Sam does not have a sense of humor. Not at all."

Her face fell, and she looked off into the distance. "That doesn't sound like Sam." The Sam she remembered was goofy and funny and loved to laugh.

"He's changed. You know that already."

"Did the wolf do that to him?" Her own transformation seemed to have robbed her of her joy as well.

Paul frowned. "I don't think it's the wolf. At first he wasn't like this."

He was right. She remembered. Even after he disappeared and returned so different than before, hard and huge and sometimes so very serious, he was still playful and sweet and silly with her until the day he saw Emily. "So what happened? He's just a totally different person."

"He changed after he imprinted," Paul confirmed. "His inner asshole emerged."

"Did that happen to Jared too?"

"Well, he changed, but not as much. He thinks the sun shines out of Kim's ass, which is really fucking weird considering that he thought she was boring before, but he hasn't had a full personality transplant or anything. Not like Sam. And his memory isn't all messed up, either."

"Huh. Why do you think that is? What's the difference?"

"Hell if I know." He shrugged. "None of this makes any sense, that's all I can say. I just hope it doesn't happen to me."

"No? Having your perfect match fall directly into your lap doesn't sound nice?"

He snorted. "You couldn't possibly have fallen for that line of bullshit. You know why they're perfect matches? It's because the guy molds himself into whatever the girl wants. She says jump; he doesn't even ask how high. He just knows and does it. He does whatever she wants, whenever she wants, however she wants, and then he gets on his knees and thanks her for the privilege. That's not perfect. It's slavery. And I like being a free man."

Her eyes widened. "You really think that's what it is?"

He shrugged. "I admit, I don't have that much to go off of. But look at Jared and Kim. Kim crushed on him for years. She decided he was the one along time ago. Then he imprinted, and now she's got him. And yeah, he went from thinking she was a nobody to thinking she's the center of the universe, and that's a big difference, trust me, but otherwise he hasn't had a complete lobotomy like Sam has. But you've seen him. You know better than the rest of us what he used to be like. This guy? This is a different guy. I saw it too. The Sam that you remember, the one that you were with, he's gone. This dumb fuck took his place. And it happened overnight." Paul snapped his fingers. "When he imprinted, it was like a bodysnatcher got him or something. My theory on why Jared changed a little but Sam changed a lot: Kim basically liked Jared the way he was, only she wanted him to pay attention to her, so after he imprinted, he did. Emily wanted something else, or someone else. An asshole, apparently." Leah couldn't help but snicker at his assessment. "So he turned into an asshole. I don't want that to happen to me. I don't want some random chick to have that power over me."

It was an amusing theory, but she wasn't sure she bought it. "But why would she want him to turn into a jerk? It doesn't make any sense."

Paul shrugged. "Hell if I know. Give me a leech to kill any day. But an imprint? No thank you."

They heard a rustle behind them. Sam appeared. Leah wondered how much of their conversation he had overheard. If his scowl was any indication, he heard too much. "What are you guys doing?"

Paul answered bluntly, "Just talking shit about you."

"You're late." Sam sighed.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Don't get your panties in a wad. We're here."

Leah avoided making eye contact with Sam. She stepped behind a wide oak to undress. Behind her, she heard Sam snarl, "What the fuck are you doing?"

She turned to see Paul craning his neck, blatantly trying to catch her unclothed. Sam was looking back and forth between them. "What do you think I'm doing? Any red blooded straight male would do the same."

"Get your eyes off her!"

Paul snorted. "Like you don't do the exact same thing when she can't see you. Like you weren't doing the same thing just now."

"I was not!" Sam lied. "Besides," he gloated. "I've seen it all before."

Before Leah could formulate an answer, Paul retorted, "So have I."

Sam tried to punch the smirk off his face, but Paul just laughed and wiped the blood from his nose before launching himself at Sam. Suddenly two wolves took their places in a ball of fur, snapping teeth, and tearing claws.

"Stop it!" Leah hissed. She didn’t mind seeing Paul take a chunk out of Sam, but they were too close to a residential area, and they were much too conspicuous. "Someone's going to see you!" But they weren't listening. She almost tried to move between them but knew she would get torn apart, so she quickly phased in. _Stop it!_

 _You arrogant fuck!_ Paul ignored her and yelled as he tried to bite at Sam's shoulder.

Sam jumped away. _Pervert! You've got no right!_

 _You guys are going to get spotted! You're going to get us caught!_ Leah yelled. But they weren't paying attention.

Paul swiped out a paw and managed to gouge Sam's front leg. _No, you're the one with no right._

 _I'm the Alpha of this pack. Everything you do is my business._ Sam rammed his head into Paul's chest, sending him backward.

 _This isn't pack business and you know it!_ Paul righted himself and aimed for Sam.

Leah kept yelling, _We're too close to the houses! I can see into Mrs. Johnson's kitchen from here. Move back!_

But they were too wrapped up in their own fight to notice. Paul tried to get a grip on Sam's neck as he yelled, _You can't stand the idea that someone else might be interested in her._ But Sam slipped out of his grasp and rolled away.

Leah realized they wouldn't stop until one of them was unconscious. She looked for an opening.

 _That has nothing to do with it!_ Sam snapped, but they all knew it wasn't true. He got to his feet.Leah edged toward them.

Paul crouched and growled, _She's not yours anymore._

Sam lost it. _Of course she is!_ He flung himself at Paul. But Leah had moved between them to keep them apart, and he slammed into her side, throwing her into the dirt. He couldn't stop his momentum and landed on her. Pain lanced through her the impact.

 _Fuck! Get off me! Get the fuck off me!_ She bucked and thrashed until he stumbled away.

_Oh my god, Lee Lee! I'm so sorry!_

_Haven't I heard that before?_ She righted herself.

Sam lowered his tail between his legs and lowered his head. _I didn't mean to do that. I'm so sorry. Are you okay?_

 _I'm fine,_ she snapped.

Paul pointed out, _Except you're bleeding._ A laceration had opened where Sam's claws tore into her side.

 _It's just a scratch._ It actually hurt terribly. It was the worst injury she had ever experienced. She knew it would close in a matter of minutes, but it still felt like she had been ripped open, because she had been. _We've got to get further into the woods. Someone's going to see us. The sun hasn't even set yet._ She turned her back on them and moved toward a thick grove of trees.

Sam and Paul trotted after her. Sam kept trying to apologize. _I didn't mean to do that, I swear. I'm so sorry. Let me take a look._

_It's nothing._

_It's not nothing. Let me look! Don't move._ Without realizing it, he had made it into an order. She froze in place as he approached her. Her fur covered the wound, so he nudged at the matted strands with his nose, trying to move them out of the way. He instinctively reached out his tongue to lap at the blood.

She willed her limbs to carry her away, or better yet, to swipe her claw at his face. But she couldn't do anything. Luckily, Sam hadn't silenced her. _Don't do that! Don't touch me!_

Paul approached them and growled. It was a dark and frightening sound that would have terrified her if she didn't know what it was. _Step away, Sam. Lift the order and back away before I make you._

Sam turned to glare at Paul. _As if you could make me._

 _Try me. Please,_ Paul taunted.

 _Just stop!_ Leah pleaded. _You're making this so much worse. It's closing already, okay? It'll be gone in a matter of seconds._

 _I have to make sure you're okay,_ Sam told her.

Paul pointed out sarcastically, _And then you'll go home to your imprint, who will be thrilled to find out that not only have you been out here sneaking peeks at your naked ex, you're getting in her space when she's asking you not to, and you're licking her, no less. Emily will love that._

The reminder of his imprint was like a splash of cold water in his face. Sam stumbled backward and away from both of them. _It's not like that._

 _The hell it's not,_ Paul said. _Look, you go home to her now and leave us alone to patrol in peace, and I won't tell her that you were out here saying that Leah is still yours._

Sam was about to argue, but Leah stopped him. She was exasperated with him and with the entire situation. She wished she never had to see him again. _Just go, Sam. Go home to Emily. Go home and forget about all this._

He looked at her and knew that there was no point in staying. He could argue with Paul until he was blue in the face. He could order compliance. He could punish the insubordinate wolf. But Leah wasn't going to forgive him, not for the gash in her side, not for everything else he had done. _You can move again. I'm sorry, Lee Lee._

 _So?_ she asked.

 _You may not believe me, but I really am._ He turned tail and disappeared.

She sighed and sat on her haunches. She tried to examine the wound, but she couldn't see it well. _At least it'll be gone soon. This is exhausting. And still twelve hours to go._

_Look at the bright side. You get to spend all twelve of those hours with me!_

Despite herself, she laughed. _I should be grateful, huh?_

 _I am God's gift to women, after all._ He was only half joking.

She snorted. _I'll believe it when I hear that from a woman, not from you._

_Hey, baby. I'll show you myself. Anytime._

She laughed again as if it was just a joke. But she could see into his mind, and she knew he wasn't, not really. _Are you actually hitting on me while I'm bleeding? Does this really seem like a good time?_

He grinned at her. His teeth looked very sharp. _That depends. Is it working?_

_No! I'm only bleeding because I had to break up your stupid fight, and watching you get into some kind of pissing contest with Sam wasn't particularly attractive._

He let the rejection roll off his back. _That's okay, I'll try again later._

_What? That's not what I meant! And another thing: you kind of did have it coming with that peeping Tom shit! I've got no interest in Sam defending my so-called honor, but I'll gladly defend my own! I can't believe you were trying to sneak a peek!_

He just shrugged again. _What can I say? When something so fine is in my line of vision, I just can't help but stare._

Leah rolled her eyes. _Oh my god. Do awful lines like that really work on anyone?_

 _You tell me._ He was still leering at her.

 _In your dreams, Lahote._ She sounded annoyed, but they both knew she was also flattered. _Come on. Let's patrol._

He followed her, laughing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my beta, Babs81410.


	9. Consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Apologies for a continuity error from the last chapter; I referred to Quil as a wolf when he hasn’t phased yet. Thanks to the reader who pointed that out to me. It’s fixed now.

More than once, Leah wished she was having a psychotic break. Madness would be better than this new, bizarre world, because madness could be helped. She could take medication or find a therapist to help her distinguish delusion from reality. Better yet would be a nightmare, because she could wake up, and when she woke up, her father would not be dead. Finally she believed she might be dead and had been sent to hell. She had killed Harry by becoming a monster in front of him, after all, and her eternal punishment would be the prison of Sam’s mind, where his innocent love for her was rendered null and void by his imprint on Emily.

The more time she spent with Sam, she came to realize that it wasn’t she who was dead: it was the Sam she had once known and loved. The one who called himself her Alpha, her brother, her packmate, this Sam was nothing but a ghost. He had forgotten almost everything after he imprinted; the essence of him had been destroyed when he looked into Emily’s eyes. She discovered that he gradually forgot his family, his friends, his love, his past, and the future he planned to build. He forgot himself.

She discovered that the destruction of his soul was a slow process. He was not dismantled in a single moment, rather, it happened over time. She was scared to find out how he had unraveled, but her morbid curiosity got the better of her. After all, he had once been the most important person in her world, and she needed to know what had happened to him. Because this cruel, thoughtless shell of a man looked like her lover, sounded like her lover, and felt like her lover, but he acted like her worst enemy. She couldn’t get away from him, and he wouldn’t leave her alone. He was her most frequent patrol partner besides Paul.

Paul would have happily been her only patrol partner if her schedule wasn’t so brutal. Sam assigned her to twelve hour overnight shifts, although eventually she was given one day off per week. The younger wolves had a mix of four or six hour shifts and patrolled for less than a third of the time she did. She understood the logic. They were full time students and needed high school degrees more than she needed sleep, but it didn’t make the hours any less exhausting. As such, she was constantly irritable and on edge. She couldn’t get the hang of filtering her thoughts, nor could her brothers. They never hid their wishes to be paired with someone other than her. She tried not to let it bother her, but the best she could do was channel it into a mask of heartlessness.

What she couldn’t hide was how bothered she was by the explicit nature of their thoughts. Leah wasn’t completely ignorant; she knew teenage boys thought about sex constantly. It wouldn’t be quite so embarrassing if they imagined models or actresses they had no chance of ever meeting. But no, they frequently conjured graphic fantasies about girls they knew. Girls she knew. Girls she would no longer be able to look in the eye after seeing them splayed out in ridiculous, pornographic positions in the collective pack mind. Girls who, as time went on, increasingly began to resemble Leah herself.

It was mortifying. They all knew exactly what she looked like thanks to Sam. The first time she phased, it was in front of him, Paul, and Seth, and that alone was enough to show off her naked body. But Sam gradually recovered memories of her in various states of undress, intimacy, and pleasure, and whoever happened to be phased with him at the time got quite a show. He didn’t just have dozens of memories of her, or hundreds, but thousands. And they were being passed among her brothers like a dirty magazine. They weren’t trying to be cruel, but they were heterosexual teenage boys whose libidos surpassed even that of normal boys thanks to the wolves who had taken over their bodies, and their brains had no filter. They couldn’t unsee what they had seen.

Embry had the good graces to apologize if she caught him sneaking a peek while she disrobed in order to transform. Jacob flatly denied that he thought about her, claiming that he was only thinking about Bella Swan, although they both knew that the figure Jacob attached to Bella’s head was much too tall, voluptuous, and tan to be the skinny white girl from Forks. Even Jared attached Kim’s head to Leah’s body, particularly since Kim had never let him get past second base. Leah was disgusted yet smug to know that she was Sam’s primary fantasy fodder, not Emily, as his sex life had taken quite a hit when he left her for the other girl. Paul was the only other one with much experience, and he was happy to brag about it to the others. She yelled at him for corrupting her baby brother, but she supposed it was better that Paul bombard him with images of random girls rather than his own sister. She yelled at the others for defiling her image in their brains, and Seth whined that they were being gross. It worked to an extent, although she knew they thought whatever they wanted when she and Seth weren’t around. More effective was a sharp bite to the tail or the ear, tactics that she employed more and more often.

Her brothers hated her reactions almost as much as they were embarrassed over their lack of control, but none of them knew how to respond. If any other wolf bit them, they wouldn’t hesitate to fight back. But Leah was a girl, and she was in the right, and they couldn’t do anything but snap at her and whine about her presence. They protested to Sam that she was unnecessarily vicious, but he didn’t appreciate the way they had appropriated his memories either, and he felt horribly guilty over what he had done to her, and he sided with her. She, of course, would have preferred the aid of a vampire to his help, and the gulf between Leah and the rest of the pack widened, particularly when Seth became embarrassed by his sister and the reactions she provoked.

When Leah lashed out, she wished they would just fight her. She could have used the outlet for her aggression. Tension had built up inside her, coiled like a spring, but there was no release. Her packmates avoided her rather than admit they had no control over themselves, and they growled and protested when she snapped at them for thinking lewdly about her. Paul was the only one who bit back. If she bared her teeth, he growled at her. If she growled at him, he snarled at her. If she lunged, he met her midair. If she sank her teeth into his flank, he whirled around and drew blood.

Sam told him to ignore Leah. Paul said he was having too much fun. The Alpha scolded him for his behavior, calling him a feral animal with a bad temper. Paul laughed and claimed he was embracing his spirit animal. Sam told him he should stop encouraging Leah. Paul said that everyone else did nothing but discourage her; he was only giving her what she wanted. Defying Sam was like a sport to him. Paul took almost as much pleasure in pissing him off as he did sparring with Leah. And he made it clear that he enjoyed their little encounters. Everyone else might call them fights, but he called them foreplay.

As for Leah, she told Sam to stay out of her business. He refused, saying that she was a member of his pack, and as such, everything she did was his business. She was defiant and demanded privacy. He refused. She lashed out angrily, called him names, and insulted his skills as an Alpha and his identity as a man. It was uncharacteristic of her, but she was desperate to keep her thoughts to herself. It didn’t work. Her words stung him more painfully than wounds because they were true, and they cemented her reputation as an insolent, spiteful bitch. Even so, they were an ineffective shield. She was at his mercy. He asked her question after question after question, and when she wouldn’t answer, he simply took what he wanted. He probed her mind thoroughly, delving inside her in search of what he had lost. He pried into her thoughts and sifted through her brain. He was fascinated by her, both by their shared past that he thought he had forgotten, as well as the creature she had become.

She, in turn, needed to know what had happened to the man she loved. She realized that with practice, she could pry into his brain just like he could hers. What she saw confused her. It wasn’t too surprising that he had deconstructed his life and rebuilt it around Emily’s desires; everything she learned about imprinting told her that this was to be expected. He didn’t just build his schedule around her, but his tastes had changed as well. He had had stopped watching horror movies because they frightened her. Instead they watched period pieces and dramatic romances. He had stopped reading graphic novels but had started subscribing to the Wall Street Journal. He apparently hadn’t eaten spicy food in months although they had once been his favorite, but now he claimed that baked sweets were his favorite.

It made her sick to her stomach. What was worse was the way he thought about Emily herself. Leah had already discovered that he didn’t see her as she actually was, and the more she probed, the worse it became. Sam believed Emily to be perfect, and if asked what he loved about her he could recite a laundry list of qualities: she was beautiful, kind, thoughtful, smart, sweet, loving, clever, generous, funny, charming, understanding… He went on and on. But if challenged to describe what was beautiful about her, or kind, or thoughtful, he would falter momentarily before giving a non-answer, and would just repeat that she was perfect. It was painful to examine the way he was blinded by his imprint, how shallow and superficial his feelings for Emily were, yet simultaneously so overwhelming.

She knew she should stop looking, but she couldn’t help herself. She delved deeper. Sam’s memories seemed to start when he imprinted; everything before that time was just a blur. Just as he told her, he barely remembered Joshua. His childhood felt like a dream. He couldn’t really remember his grandparents, who had died a few years before, despite how close they had once been. And his memories of Leah surfaced gradually; they bobbed up in broken, disconnected fragments like detritus after a shipwreck. What surprised her was that even the first few weeks after his imprint were shaded and hazy.  

Leah confronted Sam about it. What he had done hurt her badly, but what was worse was knowing that Emily had given in. It never occurred to her that Emily would betray her. She could see how little control Sam had over himself. She wanted to know how much influence Emily had over what had happened. Rachel told her that Emily was jealous, had always wanted what was hers. Was it true? She considered asking Emily herself, but she didn’t know what to say. Moreover, she was still only allowed to see other shifters; Sam thought she still wasn’t safe to be around normal humans, his imprint in particular. So she asked him what had happened. He was evasive, saying there was no point in asking. What was done was done. She said that after what they had been through, the least he could give her was the truth. She deserved to know what happened after he unceremoniously kicked her out of their home. He squirmed and became defensive and tried to send her away, and at first she acquiesced. But the next time he forced her to patrol with him and started asking questions about their past, she retaliated by turning the tables on him.

She was shocked to realize that Sam had not only forgotten his past life, but the beginning of his new one as well. He had vague recollections of a conversation that took place in the living room of his cabin, of telling Emily about their legends, his dual nature, and his imprint. He knew she had helped him pack Leah’s things, and that he had soon followed her to Neah Bay. He wasn’t certain what happened after that; it was a dark time in his life punctuated by flashes affection and flirtatiousness from Emily alternating with tears and guilt. Leah tried to get him to explain himself, but he wouldn’t. Then she realized that he actually couldn’t. At first she thought he had simply blocked out the memory of slashing Emily’s vulnerable skin. But it was more than that. She was sure.

It was Paul who told her what had actually happened. Apparently Sam had not forgotten her instantaneously. Although he was irrevocably changed by the imprint, nothing could completely erase everything they had built together over the years. Just as Jared had not forgotten his parents, his sister, or his friends in the moment he looked into Kim's eyes, Sam initially held onto some piece of himself, to some piece of her.

The night he imprinted and broke up with Leah, Emily had initially accompanied Leah back to her mother's house. Leah remembered. Her cousin held her as she cried, telling her comforting words and acting as bewildered as Leah was. What Leah didn't know was that Emily had returned to the cabin directly after Leah fell asleep. Paul didn't know why; he had access to Sam's memory and had actually been on patrol when it happened. But Paul had no way to know Emily's intent. It might have been to chastise Sam for his treatment of Leah, or it might have been something else. Either way, Sam had told her everything. He told her what he was, what he did, and who she was to him. He told her that she was his soulmate. Emily hadn't immediately responded. She left without a word, returning home to Neah Bay. Leah had called her in the first few days, had spent hours on the phone with Emily, and her cousin had initially been supportive. But she soon disappeared. Paul admitted that the timing coincided with Emily's return to La Push, a visit Leah knew nothing about. And thus Emily's relationship with Sam began.

Paul didn't give her details. Thanks to their mental connection, he was privy to them, but Leah didn't want to know, and he didn't offer. What he did want her to know was the way Emily controlled Sam. Apparently he felt terrible regret over ending his lifelong relationship with his fiancé, his childhood sweetheart and best friend. He showered Emily with attention, yes, told her she was his everything and that he could not live without her, but he did not forget Leah. He thought about her, worried about her, and if Paul was to be believed, in flashes of lucidity remembered how much he still loved her. He cried out her name in his sleep or during even less opportune moments. It made Emily furious. It was the only thing they argued about. Emily accused Sam of lying to her, of forcing her to betray her own family over empty words. She accused him of being no better than his father. She said she knew she would wake up one day and he would be gone. He was distraught more than he was angry. He begged for forgiveness and told her everything she wanted to hear.

Then she accused him of still being in love with Leah. Sam hesitated, which turned out to be a terrible mistake. Emily wept and told him to choose, to forget about Leah, to forget the trappings of the old life that he had already abandoned. And in that moment he lost control. He phased in his fury and transformed into his wolf as he tried desperately to cling to what was left of himself. In so doing, he tore into her flesh. He returned to his human body in panic and carried her to the hospital, and by the time he arrived, he had fulfilled her wish. When she awoke, it was to a changed man. She told him that after what he had done to her, she had to be not only his top priority, but also his only priority, or she would leave. It was an unnecessary threat. He was already her slave.

From that moment on, he was transformed into the image that Emily had always wanted for herself. Samuel Uley had died that day.

But a shadow was resurrected when Leah joined the pack. She brought memories he had lost, a love more true than the lie in which he was trapped, and the knowledge of who he had once been. It intrigued him, beguiled him, and tempted him. So he watched her. He followed her. He haunted her. But he never came back to her. He was a hollow shell of a man, not strong enough to break his imprint nor brave enough to let her go.

She wanted to mourn him, but how could she when he was right there? It was torture. In his selfishness, he desired her friendship, no matter the cost to her. In his slavery, he sought forgiveness on behalf of her cousin, who fooled herself into thinking she was an innocent in the breaking of Leah’s heart. In the sliver of what remained of his true self, he coveted her. In his arrogance, he believed she still belonged to him. And now that he had her back, he had no intention of letting her go.

Leah rebelled. She fought against the change that had overtaken her, against he who had tossed her aside, and against the vampires who had ruined their lives. But she didn’t stop there. She fought everyone. Her mother offered her promises that everything would be fine; empty words could not comfort her. Her once-friends might have helped her, but Sam had isolated her from them. Her packmates offered her disdain; she gave them bitterness in return. Her own brother sympathized with her, but he too was in mourning and didn’t know how to make her feel better. Leah built walls around herself for protection. If all she offered were cold words, everyone would stay away from her, and in this way she preserved what little privacy she had left.

She mostly managed to achieve her goal. The people she wanted to see were kept from her, and those she had access to did not want to be near her. She spoke with Rachel from afar, but could tell her nothing. Rachel wanted to know why she was always so evasive, but she couldn't explain. Their conversations became so frustrating that she no longer wanted to call. The only person who would not leave her alone was Paul. Her temper did not intimidate him; hers was the only one that could match his. In fact, he relished battle. It was the one thing he loved about turning into a monster. The fierce, wild wolf felt like his true nature, and Leah was a glorious opponent. Neither did her disdain dissuade him. He too knew what it meant to be abandoned and that platitudes were worthless. As a child, he had lashed out when his mother left, and he expected nothing different from Leah since she knew her father would never return. Her quicksilver moods did not frustrate him; they indicated passion and honesty. And he was every bit as mercurial as she. She made perfect sense to him.

It didn't hurt that she was stunning. He had always wanted her, had teased her mercilessly when he was a boy and lusted after her as a teen. Phasing had not diminished her beauty. On the contrary, the change heightened the animal nature of her allure. Her movements were more graceful, more sinuous. Her skin was succulent, and her curves were meant to tempt. The feminine lines of her form hid the strength and power of the muscles underneath. Her lovely human body was a lure for predators, seducing them into complacency, while the wolf who lurked inside waited at the ready to kill any who came too near.

She was of the first of her kind, unique in her perfection. But her eyes, though framed by thick, youthful lashes, were full of pain and looked far older than her years. Sam was unable to meet her gaze, despising himself for being responsible for the darkness he found, and longing for the love he had abandoned. Their brothers, too, didn't want to look, didn't want to see the depth of her despair. Paul, however, saw embers smoldering under her cold, hard mask, and he prodded her with barbs and biting words just to see her passion ignite. Her fury was beautiful.

Leah played a starring role in Paul's fantasies, and he was not ashamed of it. On the contrary, he reveled in it. Nothing got a rise out of her like watching her when they undressed to phase or reliving a dream he had about her the night before. He stopped short of using Sam's memories of her as fodder. It was one of the only boundaries he respected, because the one time he did it, she shut down with quiet humiliation rather than the righteous anger he had been hoping to provoke. Sam nearly killed him for it, which didn't hurt nearly as much as her stony facade.

After that he watched her reactions carefully, and he realized that what bothered her the most was not his attraction to her, nor his disrespect of her boundaries, but that it was the closest thing to affection that she received from anyone other than Seth. Despite her privacy being violated by the intrusive pack mind, she felt isolated and alienated. The world had shifted under her feet, and she didn't know where she stood. Paul knew that she wouldn't accept any pitying words or empty, superficial distractions, and he was no good at such things anyway. So he stuck to what he knew: teasing her, taunting her, and wanting her.

Gradually their fights turned into arguments, which somehow led to conversations. They began to debate one another for the amusement of it, each finding the other surprisingly witty. They sparred with one another, both verbally and physically. They became training partners. She loved that he never restrained himself during a confrontation, because she knew a vampire would not hold back simply because of her gender. Although she was smaller than he by far, she was quicker and more agile, and he sharpened his reflexes against her.

Gradually they spent more and more time together to the point that Paul stopped seeing other women without even noticing. Previously he had cultivated a reputation as a notorious womanizer. He had always known how to charm when he wanted to, and he took full advantage of his body's transformation, seducing naive girls while forming nothing that resembled a relationship. It wasn't deliberate, but he quickly lost interest after bedding them. He wasn't trying to be cruel, but none of them held his interest for long.

Somehow he didn't think he would lose interest in Leah. She was endlessly fascinating, intriguing, and challenging. The chemistry between them was like nothing he had ever experienced. He didn't know what to make of it, only that he wanted more. So he sought her out, unfazed by her initial rejection. He wore down her defenses with persistent attention disguised as aggression, and slowly their fights turned into something more.

The first time it happened was at the end of a training session with the whole pack. Leah was in a foul mood, an inevitable result of having to share the pack mind with Sam. Worse yet, he had lifted the ban against being around humans and resumed holding pack meetings at the cabin. Earlier that day Emily greeted Leah with false humility, saying she had missed her old friend and hoped that they could be sisters again. Sam had actually issued an Alpha order to Leah to be nice, so she said nothing when Emily blatantly threw her arms around Sam’s neck and kissed him soundly right in front of her. Paul barely got her outside before she phased and ruined her clothes.

Paul, too, was chafing under their Alpha's restrictions. He was running them ragged with endless patrols and battle training in response to Victoria's threat toward Bella Swan, yet it seemed he had neither the will nor the bravery to pursue their enemy. The monster kept slipping out of their clutches, partly due to her skills of evasion, but also because of Sam's unwillingness to venture too far from the reservation. Paul wanted to hunt for her, to go on the offensive rather than waiting for her to come to them, but Sam would not consider the idea. He claimed it was too dangerous, but what he really meant was that he refused to lead the shifters away from the imprints. Paul knew his judgment was clouded.

So on that particular night, they were exhausted from a lengthy and pointless training session. Sam had pitted them against one another in mock battles despite the fact that Leah had pointed out that fighting one another was no preparation for fighting a leech, who resembled them neither in physiology nor in combat techniques. They missed dinner with their families in favor of mauling each other in the woods. Paul argued with Sam about the futility of the exercise. Sam responded by accusing him of laziness and irresponsibility. Paul reminded Sam that he wanted to track the vampire but had not been allowed. Sam accused Paul of trying to abandon the reservation and shirk his duties.

Leah tried a different tactic, pointing out the dangers of exhausting the pack and stretching themselves too thin. After all, he had given her a disproportionate share of the work to allow the boys to stay in school, where they were supposed to go the next morning. Some were on the verge of failing. None of them had time to do their homework since they were screwing around in the woods. Sam would not see reason, so Paul called him a selfish and shortsighted prick. He snapped back that if they were so concerned about everyone else's well being, Paul could join Leah for the next week of night shifts, and she would forfeit her rare days off until further notice. When Paul snarled at the injustice, pointing out that Sam had conveniently relieved himself of several shifts with the change, he ordered them both not to say another word. In her fury Leah lunged at Sam. He stubbornly issued another Alpha order by telling them they clearly had the energy to keep training, and he set them against each other.

As Leah and Paul faced off, he ordered everyone else to shift out and go home. Seth and Jacob both protested his decision. Even Embry said he was being too harsh, but he wasn't listening, and soon everyone else was gone. Leah wanted to scream, but nothing came out. She had lost her ability to communicate in the pack mind due to the order. She was livid, blaming Sam for turning into someone cruel and unrecognizable and, irrationally, Paul for getting them into this situation.  

Sam intended to stay and ensure that Leah and Paul kept training, but he quickly became distracted. It happened whenever Emily needed him. His train of thought would immediately become derailed, and he would be unable to focus on anything but his imprint. He abruptly turned his back on them and headed toward her, not really aware of what he was doing or why, callously envisioning Emily waiting for him in the cabin he once shared with Leah. He was lost in a daze.

Leah's rage was at a fever pitch. Her heart ached with the betrayal, and he had left without lifting his injunctions, so she couldn't tell him off, and she couldn't go home. She did the only thing she could: she followed his orders. She threw herself at Paul, colliding with his shoulder. He absorbed the blow and twisted to knock her away. She used her hind legs to kick him in the muzzle, but he snapped his jaws, drawing blood. The sting somehow felt cleansing, because pain was her life now, and she would embrace it because it seemed that there was nothing else for her. She whirled and lunged at him again, and he met her halfway. She opened a gash across his chest, but his superior bulk toppled her backward. She landed on her back and he tried to pin her, but she shoved him to the side. When she tried to stand, he swept her paws out from underneath her, and he brought her to the ground. She managed to squirm away, but he sliced open the back of her neck with his claw. They stood and faced one another again.

This time Leah waited for Paul's strike. When it came, she dodged left, and he crashed into the tree behind her. She rammed her shoulder into his flank and pinned him to the ground. In retaliation he clawed at her belly, but she didn't even seem to notice the wound. She sank her teeth into his hide. He howled and thrashed wildly, making her lose her balance. Then he pushed her off and regained his footing.

They leapt at the same time. Upon collision they went tumbling. Leah shoved Paul against a rock, bruising his flank. He lashed out, digging another wound into her side. She bit at his shoulder, stopping just short of tearing out a chunk. He nearly broke her arm when he struck a blow to dislodge her. He found himself backed into a thicket of brambles, and he tried to run past her into more open ground. But she was too quick, and she blocked his way. In his momentum, he crushed her against the trunk of a pine, narrowly avoiding impaling her on a broken branch. She retaliated by butting her head into his muzzle, and he reeled back.

They clashed again and again. It was like no fight they had ever had. He wanted to stop and he knew she did too, but the order had them in its thrall. As soon as it looked like one of them was beginning to master the other, the tide would turn, and the battle continued. They traded blows, bites, bruises, and blood. Their brothers had disappeared. They had frightened all the small animals away. It was silent but for the sounds of their struggle.

Yet it could not continue forever. One of them had to prevail. Leah was fast, fierce, and smart, but her strength and size simply did not match Paul's. Inevitably, she tired. He charged at her, and she feigned right. But she glanced in the direction she planned to move, so he redirected his course to match her. He crashed into her, and she tumbled back, striking her head against a large rock hidden in the grass. This time she didn’t get up. She was unconscious.

The order to fight lifted as Leah involuntarily phased back. Paul came to his senses and looked at her in horror. Suddenly she looked small, vulnerable, and badly beaten. She lay nude, curled on her side, covered in lacerations, bruises, and dirt. Paul felt like a monster. As bad as his temper was, he had never struck a woman before Leah, and previously they only sparred in a controlled setting. In every other case, she left their bouts with her head held high and her clothes neatly in place. This time she looked like the victim of a vicious assault, and he was the attacker.

He felt waves of protectiveness and regret rise through him. He whined low in his throat and nudged her shoulder with his nose, but she did not stir. He gently began to lick at her wounds, cleansing them and clearing the dirt from her body. First and foremost he tasted iron, but underneath that was a distinctly feminine flavor. Her skin was soft where it was not marred, softer than that of any girl he had ever touched. When he was done, she had still not awoken, so he morphed back into his human body and gathered her into his arms, kneeling on the ground. He wanted to beg her to wake up, to ask her forgiveness, to tell her how sorry he was. But his words were still choked off by Sam’s order.

He wanted to scream. During their battle they had ranged far from their original meeting place, and he did not know where she had left her clothes. Her skin was hot against his. He pushed her hair out of her face and ran his fingers down her cheek, but she didn’t stir. He kissed her forehead, but she didn’t respond. All he could do was rock her gently back and forth, but it accomplished nothing.

Finally he stood, cradling her close. He didn't know where to go. Her mother would panic if he brought her home in this state, and he couldn't take her to one of the elders with nothing to cover her. He couldn't even call for help or explain to anyone what had happened. He began walking, bearing her away.

 

 


	10. Wordless

Leah awoke to a sensation she had missed for months. A warm arm was draped across her belly. Slow, steady breaths stirred the hair resting on her neck, and a large, solid body pressed against her. She opened her eyes and turned to see Paul. He was deeply asleep. A sheet covered her, but she wore nothing beneath. She should have been alarmed, but she felt calmer than she had in a long time. Unlike her, he wore a pair of shorts, and he rested on top of the sheet rather than underneath it. The thin cotton barrier lay between them. As she looked around his bedroom, the night before began to return to her. She remembered their fight, but nothing after. She peeked under the sheet. Her skin was clean and free of debris, but she had no idea how.

Had she and Paul been intimate? It seemed unlikely at best, but why else would she be naked in his bed? He was certainly holding her the way a lover would. Should she just ask him? It was a ridiculous question. Not wanting to humiliate herself and preferring to wait and see if she recovered any more memories, she tried to slip away. But as she tried to move from under his arm, he sighed, slipped his hand to her hip, and held her tighter. She frowned at him in consternation, but he was still asleep. She dislodged his fingers and carefully lifted up his arm, but he stirred and blinked at her slowly. Then his eyes widened, and he froze as he started to awaken.

She started to scoot out of bed until she realized that doing so would expose her completely, so she clutched the sheet to her chest and opened her mouth to demand an explanation. But no words came forth. His mouth, too, flapped open and shut as he raised himself on his elbows and looked down at her. She huffed in frustration and fell against the pillow when she remembered that Sam had never lifted his Alpha order. They would not be able to speak until he allowed it. She covered her face with her hands, groaning in frustration. The motion exposed one of the claw marks Paul had left on her arm. Without thinking, he reached out to touch it. The skin had closed over, but a red welt was left behind.

She looked at him in surprise. His hand was gentle, and his face was a mask of regret. From between her fingers she saw him mouth the words, "I'm sorry." She lowered her hands and stared at him in shock. He had never apologized to her before, not for anything. She knew he meant it, though it wasn't the first mark he had left on her, far from it. Plus he looked almost as bad as she did. His skin was discolored with purple bruises and bright red scars. She thought about the way they had flung themselves at each other under Sam's direction, and she knew this time was different. They had both been vicious, but it was against their will.

She saw him eyeing the exposed part of her chest, and for once she knew he wasn't ogling her. An ugly bruise bloomed on her skin. He frowned at it and tentatively reached for the sheet. He did not move it until he looked her in the eye, and she nodded her assent. When he uncovered the entire injury, he carefully avoided revealing her breast, and his face fell further. His lips stretched into a thin line, and his brow furrowed. She tried to tell him that she was alright but couldn't. He wished he could speak, but since that wasn’t possible, he would have to find another way to communicate with her.

What he decided to do absolutely shocked her. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the center of the bruise. She stopped breathing. He looked up after a moment, waiting for her to stop him. She stared at him without comprehension, and he watched her solemnly. With his hand on her shoulder, he urged her to turn onto her stomach, and he lowered the sheet to her waist. With a tentative finger he traced every wound across her back. She held still, not understanding. Other than trading blows, no one touched her at all. Sue loved her dearly but rarely displayed her emotions physically, and Seth, who used to easily toss his arm over her shoulders or lay his head in her lap, had closed himself off after he phased.

She felt Paul’s heat on her wounds, and he nuzzled at them with his nose. He inhaled her feminine scent, letting his breath send shivers over her skin. She wondered what parallel universe she had fallen into, but she didn't stop him. She just trembled and wondered what was going on. He didn't know exactly what he was doing. He wanted to comfort her. He simply followed his instincts, waiting for her to stop him. She surprised him by holding still, so he did what felt right. When he finally pressed gentle kisses across her skin, she stopped thinking altogether, and sensation ruled. By the time he was done, all she felt was tingling from head to toe. The pain morphed into a pleasant burn.

When he urged her onto her back again, she didn’t bother hiding herself though she knew he wasn't just worrying over her injuries. He didn’t have to say anything. His thoughts were written across his face. His gaze held equal parts concern, awe, and hunger. It had been so long since she had last been touched in this way, since anyone looked at her with such wonder. She had felt nothing but pain since she phased. This was an entirely different sensation. She had almost forgotten what pleasure felt like, and she ached for more. He, on the other hand, had had plenty of women, but none of them could compare to her. His eyes roamed eagerly over her body, and he thought to himself that she looked like a wounded angel beneath him. Suddenly he was glad they couldn’t speak. If he could simply say how sorry he was, he would have no excuse to put his hands on her. With his lips he continued tracing a path between her bruises, and his fingers brushed away any remaining pain.

She shivered again, and on his next breath he inhaled the most tantalizing scent. He took in a ragged breath, and he slid his hand to her thigh. He looked her in the eyes, seeking permission. She couldn't believe herself, but something about the forced silence made her brave. She bit her lip and nodded, and he slid his fingers between her legs. She gasped and he groaned as he found the source of her fragrance. He realized he was trembling just like she was. He was a little embarrassed. He was acting as if he had never touched a girl before. He hadn’t been so nervous in years, and he wondered if she would tease him about it when she inevitably saw it the next time they patrolled together.

She involuntarily squirmed, and the movement brought his thumb against her clitoris and the tip of his third finger against her entrance. Slowly, so slowly, he explored her. The entire time he barely blinked, not wanting to miss a second. He memorized her reaction to his touch, enthralled at the way her mouth dropped open on a gasp, the way her back arched, the hitches in her breathing, and her soft whimpers. The intensity of his gaze pulled her in, and she could not look away, could not close her eyes. They stared at each other as he pressed one finger into her, massaging gently until he was able to add a second, moving deliberately as he realized she was as tight as a virgin. His sex pulsed as he imagined how she would feel around him. Her eyelids fluttered for a second, but she didn’t close them, much to his delight. Perhaps it was because of being in each other's minds so often, but he could have sworn that he saw the way her thoughts deserted her as he found the secret spot inside her. The exquisite sensations he wrought drove out all other memory. In that moment, she wasn't comparing him to her last lover, wasn't remembering the chaos of the last months, wasn't feeling any pain. She only felt him, and he would give her only bliss.

His confidence returned as he worked her body with his hand. He played her like an instrument. When her eyes finally closed as she was overwhelmed with orgasm, her body writhing under him, her fingernails clawing at his shoulders, her head thrown back to expose her long neck, he barely resisted the urge to sink his teeth over her carotid and make her his. Then she melted into relaxation, and he removed his hand from her core and sucked his fingers into his mouth, moaning at the flavor of her sex. She was uniquely delicious. He wanted to drink endlessly of her. But before he could do that, he spotted her red lips and realized he had never kissed her. It was a grievous oversight, because her mouth was impossibly lush and ripe.

He immediately rectified his mistake, descending on her and devouring her. She was hot, sweet, and surprisingly pliant. She pressed her breasts against his chest as she wrapped her fingers in his hair, holding him close. Her grip on him was as tight as his on her, and he didn’t want her to ever let go. He marveled at how well she fit against him, how natural it felt to be with her in this way. He had been with many girls, but they felt nothing like this. His inner wolf knew she was of his kind. No other woman could match his heat or his strength, and she tasted better than the best meal he had ever had.

He had to be inside her. He had nearly come when he felt how tight she was on his fingers, and he couldn’t wait any longer. He had to feel her around his cock. He pressed his hips incessantly into her, but he hadn't yet taken off his shorts. He tried to wish them away in futility, not wanting to separate long enough to remove them. All he could do was grind hopelessly into her.

His touched had simultaneously excited and calmed her. She gave herself over to the moment, setting aside all grief, anxiety, sadness, and frustration. Now his desperation centered her. She finally tired of the teasing and took control. She pushed him off. He would have protested if he could. Instead he made a wordless sound of frustration until she shoved him onto his back and straddled him. She took her mouth away, upsetting him until she started pressing searing kisses down his chest and along the scars she had left on him. His skin heated where she passed, and his erection strained toward her. She stopped to lightly circle his nipple with her tongue, and he groaned. She grinned up at him and nipped gently with her teeth, something no one had ever done to him before, and he gasped in pleasured surprise. She chuckled, and it was one of the sexiest things he'd ever heard. He looked down at her, and she lavished attention there until he moaned embarrassingly loudly. He was more turned on than he ever remembered being, and she hadn't even touched his shaft. It was a good thing he couldn't speak; he probably would have begged in a truly humiliating fashion. Instead he pushed at her shoulders until she got the message and pulled off his shorts.

Leah hummed what she hoped sounded like an appreciative noise. Paul's cock was beautiful: long, thick, cut, and weeping clear fluid. She had to taste him. Her wolf craved it. She held him at his base and licked him from bottom to top. He smelled clean, like rainwater, and unmistakably male. He was appetizingly salty. But what she loved the most was the desperation she felt in his grip on her shoulder and in her hair. It had been so long since she felt wanted. She liked the power it gave her, so she teased him a little while longer. She ran her tongue lightly around the corona, refusing to apply the kind of pressure he wanted. She took her time, exploring him as thoroughly as he had explored her. She sought out his most sensitive spots and committed them to memory, drawing a map in her mind. With each pass, she brought him higher. By the time she finally took him into her mouth, he was right on the edge.

She peered up at him through her thick lashes, and their eyes locked again. Neither could look away. She thought he was a work of art. His muscles were lean and sculpted, his skin a rich bronze despite the wounds she had inflicted, his face all angles and planes and glittering eyes. Likewise, the sight of her mesmerized him. Her lips were swollen, red, and full, and her breasts brushed against his legs. She had always been the loveliest girl in the world to him, and now she was the most sensual. He would never be able to look at her again without seeing her this way. Her mouth was hot and her tongue was skilled, and she was the only woman he had ever been with who could take all of him down her throat. She broke eye contact as she moaned hungrily around him and slipped her eyes shut, and he was stunned to realize she was enjoying herself almost as much as he was. Most girls performed the act out of obligation or to avoid having sex, but she did it because she loved everything about it. She loved how taut his muscles were under her hand, the taste of his skin, the heat, the helpless sounds she could draw from his throat, and the way she could reduce his universe to her and her alone. She wanted to be the best he had ever had, and she was, by far. He had never been given such pleasure.

He couldn't help himself. He stilled her with his hands on her skull and started snapping his hips forward. He overfilled her, and he worried that he went too far. But she absorbed every one of his thrusts, adding the perfect amount of suction to drive him wild.

It was too much. He had to stop her. If she continued, he would explode and it would all be over. He didn't know if he would ever get another chance to be with her, and he would never forgive himself if he didn't bury himself inside her. He yanked her up and brought her mouth to his. He kissed her fearlessly, because they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. He held her fast, because he couldn’t tell her how much he wanted her. And because he wanted to dominate her, he roughly pushed her onto her back.

Normally he would have prepared her further, but the urgency to take her was overwhelming, but it left him with no coordination. All he could manage was to grind his shaft against her slit. She tilted her hips up to meet him, and he slid his broad head inside her. She felt so good that he saw stars in the corners of his eyes, but her gasp and the sudden widening of her eyes halted him. She was insanely tight, so tight he could hardly proceed, and he knew he was hurting her despite the fact that she was urging him forward with her legs wrapped around his thighs and her nails digging into his ass. If he hadn't seen Sam's memories, he would have thought he was her first. Suddenly he wished he was. He was possessed of the sudden need to erase the memory of any other man from her history. Though his spine pulsed with unbearable need, though every cell in his body called for him to take what he wanted, though his cock ached to be as deep as possible, he lifted himself off her far enough that he could slip his hand between them, and he began to gently circle her swollen clitoris with his thumb.

Her eyes slipped shut as she began to coo in response. She looked gorgeous and overwhelmed, making him feel like a god, but he wanted to see her eyes. He needed to see them to know when he could push farther inside her. He growled since he couldn't talk, and somehow, she understood and her eyes popped open. They stared at each other as he stimulated her with deadly precision.

He knew it the moment she crossed the border from pain to pleasure. It simultaneously aroused him immensely and set his mind at ease, because after so brutal a battle, he despised hurting her further. He would repay her for every scratch, bite, bruise, and wound. Inch by inch he pushed forward. Slowly he sheathed himself inside her, and it was nothing like he had ever felt before. She was molten heat, simmering passion, liquid sex trapped inside the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. Something unnamable passed between them as he held himself still, buried fully within her, staring into her eyes. Their only movement was the pulsing of their interlocked bodies, and even so, it was an unparalleled experience.

And then, with a sensual roll of her hips, she urged him to move, and he immersed himself in her. He wasn’t certain he would ever find his way out, and he was perfectly satisfied to be lost. They came together again and again. He saturated all five of her senses, and all he knew was Leah. And he was certain she felt the same. For a little while, there was nothing else but the world these two creatures built of themselves. She swept him up in her tide. He enveloped her in his waves. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours. Neither of them knew, nor cared.

When an expression of sheer devastation crossed her features, her body wracked with powerful convulsions, her core milking him as never before, she drew out not just his seed, not just his climax, but the very essence of him.  

The moment broke when he separated himself from her and fell beside her, but the moment he felt her begin to tense, he instinctively gathered her close and kissed her forehead, her eyes, her nose. She looked at him with such large eyes that he couldn't help but smile at her, and then she smiled back and wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her face in his neck. He grinned widely at no one and squeezed her tightly before peppering kisses into her hair. Eventually she settled her head on the pillow next to him, and he scooted forward until he could touch his nose to hers. It was a more intimate gesture than he could recall sharing with anyone, just as sex with Leah was something new to him altogether. They were both exhausted, and she fell asleep inhaling his breath. As she melted against his body, his last thought was the knowledge that he could never find a mate better than her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks again to my lovely beta, Babs81410.


	11. Confrontation

They awoke to the sound of frantic pounding at the front door. As Leah sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, Paul pulled on a pair of boxers and padded to the hallway. He didn't rush, because he knew what he would find on the other side. He opened the front door to an irate Sam. "What the hell are you doing? You're supposed to be on patrol." Sam frowned at Paul's bruises. "What happened to you?" His tone indicated irritation rather than concern.

Paul opened his mouth to give his response, but nothing came out. He had forgotten that Sam still hadn't lifted his order of silence. He sighed and leaned against the doorjamb, crossing his arms over his chest and giving Sam a pointed look. He would be angrier, but had Sam not abandoned them after issuing his arbitrary orders, Leah wouldn’t be in his bed at that very moment. The thought made him smirk.

Sam spotted the insolent expression. "And where's Leah? As far as I can tell, you're the last one who saw her. You two are supposed to be guarding the Rez. But when I go to phase in this morning, there's no one there. You left us unguarded for hours, didn't you? Just for that, you're both on today's shift, and you get to keep tonight's too. You're both on a double."

Paul just stared at him and wondered when he was going to figure out what had happened.

"Where is she? Her mom hasn't seen her, or her brother, and Jake doesn't know where she is. What's going on?" Sam sniffed at the air and became increasingly agitated. "Wait, I smell her. She's been here, hasn't she?" He screwed his face into a pained expression. "You know where she is, don't you?"

Paul nodded.

Sam narrowed his eyes. "Why won't you talk? What's wrong with you?" he demanded. "Do you have a girl in there? Did you blow off patrol for some piece of tail?"

Paul wondered how long it would take Sam to bark an Alpha order at him. He had always thought Sam used the commands too liberally, but prior to the night before, he didn't realize just how poor Sam's judgment was. Before Sam could put two and two together, Leah emerged from his bedroom. Paul grinned when he saw her choice of covering. She easily could have found a T-shirt to wear, but instead she had wrapped his bed sheet around her nude form. Her appearance made it perfectly clear what they had been doing. Her hair was wild, her lips were swollen and red, her eyes were blazing, and they both reeked of sex and each other. They watched as surprise, horror, and finally dismay crossed at Sam's features. "Lee Lee?" Sam pushed his way past Paul and tried to grab Leah's arms. She stepped out of his reach, frowning. "What did he do to you?" Sam gestured at the fading bruises and scars painted across her skin. The wounds were all closed, but evidence of their skirmish still remained.

When Leah did not respond, still mute because of Sam's order, the Alpha turned on him. Sam roughly shoved Paul out the front door, where he landed on the grass. "What the fuck did you do? Did you lay a hand on her? If you hurt one hair on her head, I'll kill you!"

Sam turned back to Leah and tried to place himself between her and Paul. "Lee Lee?" When she still gave no answer, he grabbed at her again, trying to examine her injuries. "Did he hurt you? What happened? Are you okay?"

She batted his hands away and went after Paul, helping him off the ground. As soon as he got to his feet, he moved protectively in front of her. Sam frowned at their intimate body language. "Did he do something to you? What happened here?" When they still remained silent, he roared, "Answer me!"

They both started talking at once as the new order negated the older one, but Leah's temper made her louder. "What happened? You idiot, you ordered us to be quiet, and then you left. You want to know why we weren't answering you? It's your own fault! We couldn't talk. That's what you get for throwing out arbitrary commands and then walking away!"

Sam was taken aback. He had completely forgotten. "Shit. Why didn't you..."

"Say anything? Because we couldn't, you moron," Paul snapped. “What do you think would have happened if a vampire showed up? What if that redheaded leech tried to cross the border last night? We’d have been crippled because of what you did!”

"Don't change the subject!" Sam absorbed his glare. "What did you do to her?" He gestured at Leah. "Something obviously happened after I left. You're hurt and you smell like..."

"Yeah!" she exclaimed. "What did you think was going to happen when you ordered us to fight each other? Did you think we were going to have a thumb war? Play chess?"

Paul added, "We nearly killed each other."

Leah started stalking toward Sam. He backed away from her, unconsciously edging into the woods. She leaned forward, furious. "This is what happens when you toss around orders without thinking. It's bad enough that you indiscriminately force us to do things, but walking away right after? Just because you're gone, doesn't mean the order is. We haven't been able to say a word all night! I'm lucky that all he did was knock me out, he's lucky I didn't rip his throat out, and the whole reservation is lucky that Victoria didn't try to get through the border last night!"

Sam was livid. He snarled at Paul. "Knocked her out? I didn't order you to do that! And then what? You dragged her back here and... and..."

"And what?" Paul challenged.

"You... You assaulted her, didn't you?" Sam stood toe to toe with Paul, who pushed Leah farther behind him. "Don't touch her!" Sam tried to move around Paul to reach for her, but she shied away. "Lee Lee? It's gonna be okay!"

"What's wrong with you?" Leah hissed. "And don't call me that!"

"Baby, get away from him," Sam implored and took her by the arm.

"Get your hands off her!" Paul forcefully removed Sam's hand.

Sam had enough. "That's it. You're fucking dead." He shoved Leah aside and phased. She skidded in the dirt as Paul transformed. The male wolves flung themselves at each other.

Paul was eager to fight Sam again. He had wanted to put the older shifter in his place even before Leah arrived. He led the pack with a toxic blend of hubris and blindness. So Paul felt triumphant when he drew first blood, raking a claw mark along Sam's forearm.

But Sam was enraged. His thoughts were too jumbled to form coherent sentences, but he imagined the worst. He was convinced Paul had raped Leah. He sank his teeth into Paul's shoulder before they pulled apart.

_Rape? Are you fucking kidding me? She wanted it, you jealous, pathetic fuck!_ Paul opened his memories, and the pain that flooded through Sam at the revelation was far worse than the blow Paul landed against his flank. _She would have begged me for it if she could speak!_

Paul knew it was an exaggeration, but it hardly mattered to either of them. Sam kicked Paul in the muzzle and yelled, _There's no way. My Lee Lee would never..._

Paul sank his teeth into Sam's paw. _Your Lee Lee? You think she's still yours after you dumped her for her cunt of a cousin?_

_Emily is not a cunt!_ Sam freed his claw, wounding Paul's cheek in the process.

Paul leapt forward and pushed the larger wolf down with his front paws, trying to get a grip on the back of his neck. He had never particularly liked Sam, but before Emily came along, it was mostly due to jealousy that Sam had Leah, and Paul held grudging respect for him. At first he hadn't been a bad Alpha. He was inexperienced, and they were all overworked due to the small size of the pack, but he seemed like a decent guy. He hadn't turned into an arrogant control freak until he imprinted. After seeing how much the imprint changed Sam while it left Jared largely intact, Paul decided that Emily must be responsible. _She's a backstabbing slut, and you're the idiot who destroyed the best thing that ever happened to you._

The truth stung Sam deeply. He bucked Paul off. _I didn't choose this. I didn't choose any of this!_

_You did it either way!_ Paul jumped forward again, aiming for Sam's open side. _And I should probably thank you for it, because now I can show Leah what a real man is like!_

They were so distracted that neither of them noticed Leah as she phased. Sam jumped away before Paul could strike him again. _Liar! You hurt her! I saw the scars! I'll kill you for what you've done!_

Paul braced himself for another attack. _You stupid, arrogant prick, the only one who hurts her is you! She loved what I did to her last night!_ He showed Sam Leah's ecstatic responses to his touch. Difficult as it was, he had kept his eyes open the entire time so that he wouldn't miss a thing. He knew that the images would hurt Sam more than any physical damage, and he didn't hold back. He showed Sam the way her full lips opened as she gasped, the sheer pleasure in her eyes, the way she arched her back and thrust her perfect breasts toward him as he moved in her.

Sam charged forward with an incoherent roar, but Leah leapt between them. _Shut up, both of you!_ Sam skidded to a stop and bumped into her, but unlike the last time she had broken up a fight between them, he didn't crush her.

_Oh god, I'm so sorry, Lee Lee!_ Sam whimpered and tried to nuzzle at the point of impact, though she wasn't injured.

_I couldn't care less if you're sorry!_ She snapped at him with her jaws. _Back the hell up!_

Sam bowed his head and moved away, bumping into a tree. _I've never wanted to hurt you._

_Then how come you can't seem to stop yourself?_ she asked bitterly. Then she wheeled on Paul. _And you! What the hell do you think you're doing, showing him that?_

_He said I'd raped you! I was just setting the record straight._

_You were gloating, is what you were doing! But it's none of his business! He gave up the right to see me like that ages ago. So don't you dare show him!_ She hated the way Sam had shared his intimate knowledge of her. The thought that Paul would do the same made her sick to her stomach.

Sam growled at Paul, and Leah turned back toward him, snarling, _Fuck off, Sam! Go away. This is none of your business._

_Of course it's my business! I care about you, Lee Lee, and I can't stand seeing you hurt. He knocked you out last night! You said so yourself. How is that okay?_

She snarled at Sam. _That was your fault, not his! He was only doing what you ordered him to do! Don't you get it? When you order us around like that, we have to do what you say. Exactly what you say. So he couldn't stop fighting me until one of us won. And if that ended up with me dead, there wouldn't have been anything he could do to stop himself. You're the one who had the nerve to order us not to talk, so we couldn't even explain it to you! You stupid prick! You almost got me killed! I know that nothing means anything to you anymore, nothing but your precious imprint, that I'm nothing to you…_

He shook his head imploringly. _You know that's not true. I lo..._

She cut him off. _Don't you dare say it! You do not! You don't even know the meaning of the word anymore._ _Fuck, you can't even tell how warped you are, can you? Your perspective is so fucked up! The way you act now? The old you would have been ashamed of you now! If somebody treated me the way you do, you’d have kicked their ass for it. But now?_

Sam promised, _Look, I made a mistake last night. I had no idea, you have to believe me. I don't even know how it happened. I barely even remember it. It's all fuzzy. But I promise it won't happen again. I'll be careful. I'll think before I use any more Alpha orders._

She scoffed. _You should know by now not to make any promises. You'll break them the moment you lose your temper, or if you think Emily wants you to._

_You don't understand._

_No shit!_ she exclaimed. _I don't understand, because nothing you do makes sense anymore! You've lost your god damned mind. If you stop to think about anything, your logic is twisted, and most of the time you're clearly not thinking at all!_

He lowered his tail between his legs. _That's not me. That's not who I am._

_Then who the hell is it? Did those orders come out of the air? Because I guarantee you that we didn't beat the shit out of each other just for the fun of it,_ she retorted, _and anything that happened after is none of your fucking business._

_But it is, Lee Lee. I care about you too much to let this happen. I won't let him hurt you._

_You're the one who hurts me, not him!_

_Oh yeah?_ Sam challenged, _What about how he was showing you off just now? He took advantage of you. He's just using you for sex. He doesn't care about you, not like I do._

Paul interrupted, _You don't know what you're talking about, Uley._ He did care about Leah. No one had ever held his interest the way she did, and it wasn't just because of her sinful body or her beautiful face. The realization slowly came upon him as they got to know one another, and the night before had cemented it. Leah wasn't just another girl. But he wasn't about to tell her that, especially not in front of Sam. Before, he had led girls to believe he wanted more than he actually did in order to get them into bed, but the words he spoke to them were empty. His feelings for them were imitations of the real thing. This was something genuine, but he didn't want to think about the implications while she was in his brain, let alone with her crazy ex practically frothing at the mouth in front of them.

They sensed doubt in her mind. Leah looked back and forth between Sam and Paul. She was mostly furious at Sam, but she was afraid that what he said was true. Although their encounter the night before was surprisingly emotional and tender, she knew that Paul wasn't the type to make love. He wanted to get laid, not chain himself to a girlfriend. He had made that abundantly clear when he spoke of the girls he had bedded. In her vulnerability, had she allowed herself to become another notch on his bedpost? If she had, did it even matter? Before she awoke in his bed, she thought they were becoming friends of a sort, and she knew he was attracted to her, but she didn't think anything else was going on.

_Don't listen to him,_ Paul urged. _He's just pissed off because he thinks I've taken what's his. He thinks he owns you, Leah._

Her anger focused her. If Paul was using her, so be it. There was no commitment between them. He had never made her any promises that he could break. He didn't tell her he loved her, didn't say they were meant for each other, didn't claim he wanted to grow old with her. She wasn't thrilled that he had displayed her to Sam, but Sam already knew her more intimately than anyone. And Sam had done the same thing over and over, and he had no place criticizing Paul for anything. _You're such a fucking hypocrite,_ she told Sam.

_I didn't have a choice,_ Sam pleaded. _He does. I won't let him hurt you again._

Paul started to growl at him, but Leah snapped, _You don't get to say things like that! Stop pretending you care!_

_I'm not pretending!_ Sam insisted.

_Look, this is pointless. I'd rather talk to a brick wall than talk to you anymore._ Leah shook her head. _It would be just as productive, and a hell of a lot less frustrating._ She stormed off, but not back into the house. She walked in the opposite direction and phased back into her human body, throwing him out of her brain.

Sam and Paul hastily phased as well. Sam called after her, "Where are you going?"

She turned toward them, nude, angry, and proud. She looked glorious. "I'm following your orders," she answered in a clipped tone. "I'm getting my things, and then I’m going to patrol."

"You don't have to do that," Sam said.

She raised a brow. "Really? Because I'm pretty sure that when you tried to break down Paul's door this morning, it was to get us to patrol. You're the one who just gave us a double, or have you already forgotten? You just said that we left everyone unguarded, isn't that right?"

Sam looked ill. "But you're hurt."

"So? Since when did that matter to you?" She disappeared before he could say another word.

Sam started to jog after her and yelled at Paul, "You're off the day patrol. I'm taking it myself."

Paul grabbed him before he could get anywhere. "Leave her alone, man. I swear to God..."

Sam shook his arm free and snarled, "You don't tell me what to do. I don't take orders from you."

"No," Paul answered, "you take your orders from Emily. How much do you think she's going to like it when she finds out you went chasing after Leah in a jealous fit?"

That stopped Sam short. "Leave her out of this. It doesn't involve Em at all."

Paul noticed that he didn't even try to deny his jealousy. "No? Your feelings for your ex fiancée have nothing to do with your current fiancée? You're a shitty liar, Sam."

"This isn't about me, and it isn't about Emily either." Sam stabbed at Paul's chest with a pointed finger. "This is about you being out of control. I'm going to kill you for hurting Leah."

Paul rolled his eyes. "You want to kill someone for hurting Leah? Then you'd better be ready to kill yourself and your precious imprint. Nobody has ever hurt her the way you two did."

"I didn't have a choice!" Sam yelled. "You think I wanted this? Any of it? You think I would ever choose to hurt her? You don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about. She was the love of my life, not some chick I wanted to nail. I'm head over heels for her." Paul's eyes widened, but Sam didn't even realize he had slipped into the present tense. He barreled on. "I was going to marry her. We were going to make a family. I want to grow old with her. You stand there and judge me like you've got some kind of superiority over me. Well, you don't. You've never even imagined caring about someone the way I care about her. And who the hell are you to judge me? I never thought I would imprint on anyone else. I didn't know it was possible. But you? What happens when you imprint? Then you'll see. It'll tear you apart, it'll tear her apart, and you'll be even guiltier than I am, because you should have known better. How can you do this to her?"

"What we do is no business of yours. Stay out of it."

"This isn't me being an asshole, Paul. I'm telling you the truth, and what you think of me is irrelevant. It's still a fact. She deserves better than you. She's not one of your little sluts. She's not some whore you can use to get your rocks off."

Paul scoffed, "You're the one who doesn't know what he's talking about. I don't think that about her. Besides, she doesn't need you to defend her, and I'm not interested in anything you have to say. Go stick your head back up Emily ass. If anyone's a whore around here, it's her. She's the one who stole her cousin's fiancé." Sam sputtered with indignation, but he knew Paul was right. Deep down, he had always known that Emily had the power to free him, but she chose not to. He had to be what she wanted, and if only she had wanted a brother or a friend, he would be happily married to Leah by now.

Paul turned to go back inside his house, but he couldn't resist tossing one more barb at Sam. "And for the record, I should thank you for leaving us alone last night. These scratches on my back? They're not from the fight."

X-x-x-x-X

Paul couldn't focus on anything for the rest of the day. He was late to school, and he was so distracted that he missed it every time a teacher spoke to him. Each time he moved, the pull of the healing wounds on his skin reminded him of their intense coupling. He kept flashing back to little things that had surprised him: how wide her eyes were when he entered her, how swollen her lips became from his kisses, how vulnerable her cries sounded in his ears. When his wounds disappeared by late afternoon, he realized he missed them and wanted them back.

He waited on her back porch. He wasn't sure if she would stop by the house at all. She still had fourteen hours left in her double shift. But she hadn't eaten anything since lunch the day before, so he was betting that she would take a short break for food. He was right. She stumbled out of the woods, pulling on some clothes she had stashed behind the house. She was disheveled and exhausted. Dark circles sat under her eyes, and her posture was stooped. She straightened when she saw him. "Paul?"

"Hey, Lee." He stood.

"What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Waiting until seven to phase in. Didn't feel like sitting at home. How was patrol?"

"Boring except for my stalker."

"Your stalker?"

She clenched her jaw. "Yeah. One guess to figure out who it is."

"Asshole. I told him to leave you alone."

"Yeah, that wasn't going to happen." She rolled her eyes. "He didn't phase in, so at least there's that. But I could hear him sneaking around."

Paul was confused. What could Sam accomplish without talking to her? Was he just watching her? "What do you think he was doing?"

"I don't know. Being a creeper? If I was Bella Swan, maybe I'd think it was romantic. But I'm not crazy, so I think he's a stalker. Maybe he was following me to see if you'd pop up."

He snorted. "I'll bet you're right. Did you hear him reneging his order to make me do the day patrol too?"

"Yeah and, well, you're here, so..." She looked past him. She felt awkward and out of place in her own backyard. She had been partnered with Jared for the entire day, so she spent the whole shift trying not to think about what had happened the night before. It wasn't any of his business. Of course, she still hadn't figured out how to prevent her brothers from seeing her thoughts, and thinking about not thinking about something only resulted in thinking about it more. All she did was give herself a headache, and Jared knew everything anyway. Thankfully he wasn't interested in adding to the pornographic library he had in his brain, but it was only because he found Sam's behavior appalling. It wasn't because he understood that Sam was being unfair to Leah and Paul, it was because he couldn't fathom why Sam spent any energy on Leah when Emily was waiting for him at home. Things had gotten so tense between them that Jared sent her home to eat dinner, not as a favor to her but to get away from her for a couple hours.

He peered out into the woods behind her. "Think he's watching?"

"Nah." She seemed certain. "Em would have gotten home half an hour ago. He'll be there." She put her hand in front of her mouth and tried to hide a huge yawn.

"You're exhausted, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I've only got two hours until I have to go back out again. I can't figure out if I need sleep or food more."

"Why don't you eat and then sleep in a little?" he suggested. "I'll patrol by myself for a bit. Just come when you're ready."

She scowled in frustration. "Actually, you're off tonight's patrol."

"What? Sam put us on nights together and let everybody else off the hook."

"Not anymore. I have nights. You're off until a double on Saturday."

"Since when?"

She spat out, "Since Sam took nights for rest of the week."

"Motherfucker! He's your patrol partner?"

"Yeah. I can't figure out a way out of it. I'd ask Seth to trade with me, but he needs to sleep so he can be awake in school."

Paul saw an opportunity, and he grinned at her. Until now he had no idea what his game plan was. He knew he wanted her again, and contrary to Sam's accusations, it wasn't just for sex. But he didn't know exactly what he wanted, just that he wanted more. He was wandering into new and unfamiliar territory, and it made him nervous. But she had just given him the opportunity to go back to something he knew better. "So if you have to share head space with him, wanna piss him off a little more?"

She looked at him nervously. "Yeah. Always. What do you have in mind?"

He stepped forward and whispered into her ear. "It made him crazy finding us together this morning. He hated smelling me on you, and reading my mind made him lose his."

She shivered involuntarily. "So..."

He wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her close. "When's your family getting home?"

"S-Seth's at a friend's house," she stammered as his hot breath tickled her neck. "My mom took an extra shift at the hospital."

He kissed a path from her shoulder to her ear, making her shiver. "Then let's go upstairs."

She stood stock still. What was she doing? What was she getting herself into? Sam wasn't right about much of anything, but she had to wonder if he was right about Paul. Was he just using her for sex? It hadn't seemed like it last night, but she didn't know. He could get sex from a half dozen different girls just by asking. The only difference she could see between herself and those other girls was proximity. And the fact that he could shove her in Sam's face. Was he just using her to anger his Alpha? He basically said as much.

Then he began to worry at a sensitive patch of skin at the crook of her neck. She moaned despite herself, and she thought that anything that frustrated Sam might be worth doing. But what would the cost be? Surely she would pay it. "I'm filthy and disgusting. You don't want to touch me," she protested weakly.

"The dirtier, the better, I think," he growled softly and ran his fingers through her hair, cupping the back of her skull. "I do want to touch you, trust me." He pressed the evidence of his interest into her stomach, and her breath caught. "But if it bothers you, we can start in the shower."

"The shower?" Why couldn't she think of anything more coherent to say?

He tilted her head back, and he descended on her mouth. Her knees almost buckled beneath her. She felt like she was being devoured. When she gasped for air, he whispered, "You'll like it. I promise. I'll make you feel good. Let me make you feel good."

"God, Paul."

He took her exclamation as agreement and pulled her inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my beta, Babs81410.


	12. Priorities

_What do you think you're doing, Lee Lee?_ Sam’s voice was loud in her mind as she ran east. He emerged from the trees in front of her.

She looked at him pointedly. _None of your business, Sammy._ She spat out the old nickname.

_You're my business, like it or not._

His possessiveness made her angry, but she realized she could utilize it. She was sick of having herself displayed in the pack mind, but for once, she could use the link to her advantage. This time it wasn't her body being exposed. It was Paul's. He certainly wouldn't mind being showed off. In fact, it was basically his idea. She envisioned the sexy smirk on his face as he stepped under the spray of water in her shower and pushed her against the cool tiles.

_Jesus! I can't... I don't..._

_You don't want to see it?_ Leah asked smugly. _It isn’t so nice, is it? Maybe you could stop rubbing Emily in my face now._

Sam protested, _I don’t think of her on purpose. It just happens._

_Nothing’s your fault, right? That’s such bullshit. Besides, it’s definitely your fault that you’re here to see what happened between me and Paul. Whatever happened to Emily not wanting to sleep alone? If you couldn’t do night shifts before, how come you can do them now? Doesn't she have you chained to the radiator after dark or something?_

_She’s not completely unreasonable. I just told her I needed to do this._

She rolled her eyes. _You mean you asked permission._ When he didn’t deny it, she pressed, _Does she even know you’re out here with me?_

He tried to avoid answering. _I don’t run every decision by her, you know. I’m the Alpha of this pack, not her._

She snorted and turned her tail to him, taking off at a trot. _Right. You keep telling yourself you’re in charge, Sammy, that she doesn’t have you by the short and curlies. And feel free to pretend it wouldn’t bother her to know we’re out here by ourselves._

Sam followed her. _It wouldn’t…_ he attempted, but they both knew it wasn’t true. Emily felt threatened by Leah, and with good reason. Even if Leah couldn’t have figured it out for herself, Emily had spoken with Kim, who told Jared that Emily was worried that Sam was tempted by his first love. Once Kim talked, Emily's insecurities were fair game for the entire pack.

_You’ve always been a shitty liar, Sam. I used to like that about you._

_This isn’t about me,_ he growled. _This is about you and Paul. This is about how he’s going to hurt you. I’m not just going to sit back and watch it happen!_

_Watch what happen? This?_ She showed him the way Paul had pinned her arms over her head, trapping her against the shower wall. _Or this?_ He had descended on her neck, suckling and biting enough to bruise, but not enough to break the skin. Her legs had gone weak at the sensation. Then he had worked his other hand between her legs, and when he plunged his fingers inside her, her knees had buckled. He had laughed and held her up by her wrists, and his skilled fingers had quickly brought her to orgasm.

It caused a physical pain in Sam’s chest. _Fuck, Lee Lee! I'm going to kill him!_

_Oh, don't do that,_ she drawled. _He's too yummy to go to waste._ Leah had slid down bonelessly once Paul removed his hand, and he guided her to her knees. She had eagerly taken him into her mouth as he held her in place with his fingers wound through her hair.

_God damn it, I don’t want to see that! Why would you show me that?_

_No? Stop dishing it out if you can’t take it!_

_I don’t think about Emily on purpose!_ he repeated. _And it’s different, anyway. She’s my imprint. I don’t have a choice, but you do! Paul does. And what you’re doing, it’s wrong!_

_Wrong?_ Leah growled. _You’re going to try to lecture me about what’s right and what’s wrong? You don’t even know what’s up and what’s down anymore, Sam. And none of this is your business anyway. You don’t want to know? Then get out of my brain._

_Where exactly am I supposed to go, huh?_

_Home to your perfect imprint,_ she replied sarcastically.

He seriously considered doing just that, but he had a feeling Paul would show up and continue wherever he had left off. He wasn’t about to let that happen. Instead of saying that, he said, _You’re not safe out here by yourself, and no one else is available. I’m not going anywhere._

_Then I hope you’re prepared to see more of Paul than you ever wanted to._ The words slipped out even though she worried that she was starting something she didn’t want to continue. Would she show him more of what she and Paul had done just to have him retaliate with pictures of his sex life with Emily? They both knew it was dull at best, but that didn’t mean she wanted to see it.

But before their argument could degenerate further, she caught a whiff of decay and bleach on the wind. She picked up her pace and smelled the air, trying to determine its origin. Sam noticed it a second after she did. _Stop, Lee Lee._

She ignored his use of the name and slowed, turning north slightly, where the scent was strongest. _That’s what I think it is, isn’t it?_

_Victoria,_ he confirmed. He moved his large body in front of her and scanned the trees. _That way. And I think…_

_There’s one more,_ she finished.

He glanced back at her. _You can tell?_

_Of course. There are two distinct scents._

_You have a good nose._

She asked, _Do you think it’s one of the Cullens? I know a bunch of them just moved back into the house._

_Right. After Bella went on that wild goose chase to get Edward out of Italy. No, I know their scents, and that’s definitely not a Cullen. I’m going to track the trail._ He started forward, and she followed.

She corrected him. _You mean we’re going to track the trail._

He looked between her and the dark forest, debating with himself. He couldn’t stand the idea of her facing down a monster, let alone fighting one. _You go back and round up the boys. I don’t want to howl; the leeches would hear us coming._

_If you think I’m running home with my tail between my legs, you’ve truly lost your mind. I’m coming with you._

_I don't want you to get hurt,_ he explained.

She narrowed her eyes at him. _All of a sudden that matters to you? Why the hell do you have me patrolling out here every night? Sparring with the guys? Why'd you set me against Paul if you didn't want me to get hurt? Just quit with the fake, overprotective bullshit._

He began, _It's not fake, and there's nothing wrong with wanting..._

She interrupted him. _There are at least two of them and two of us, Sam. I know you’re the big bad Alpha and all, but two on one's not the best odds, and for all we know, there’s even more of them out there. I’m coming with you._

He was tempted to order her to turn back, but considering how badly his last Alpha order had backfired, he reluctantly acquiesced. They began to run. _Keep your eyes on the trees,_ he instructed. _They know we can’t get them easily up there._

_Do you think we’re that close yet?_ The scent was strong, but it wasn’t burning her nose.

_Not yet. It’s rare that she gets any closer to the Rez, actually. She seems to know just where the border is, and she stays on the other side of it._

Leah asked, _Why do you think that is?_

_She knows we’ll rip her apart, that's why. Maybe she realizes we’re not the ones watching the Swan girl anymore. She couldn’t get past us, but maybe she thinks she has a shot now._

_Aren’t the Cullens watching Bella now that they’re back?_

_They’ve basically put her on house arrest. They’re not letting her come to see Jake anymore. He’s all torn up about it._

Leah was appalled. _Letting her? Since when do they get to tell her what to do?_

_Did you know that the one she’s obsessed with, Edward I think his name is, he watches her while she sleeps?_

Suddenly their own issues seemed minor. _Oh my god. That’s so creepy._

_Apparently he started doing it before she even started dating him. Before they were friends, even._

Leah pictured Edward's ghostly face and sharp teeth hovering over the vulnerable neck of the teenage girl. It made her nauseous. _This is the guy she wanted to kill herself over? She’s nuts. They both are. I haven’t the slightest idea what Jacob sees in her._

_I think it’s more about Jacob wanting to save her than anything else,_ Sam noted as he ran. _A big part of me feels like this is all her own fault anyway, and we should leave her to her fate. Any human who knowingly associates with those kinds of predators is stupid at best and has a death wish at worst. Plus they were gone, and she’s the one who dragged them all back. But she’s human, and we protect humans, so..._

Sam had pulled away from her as they ran, but she easily caught up to him. _Embry said she wants to be turned. Is that true?_

_She does._ Sam’s tone made it clear what he thought of the idea. It was repulsive.

On that point Leah agreed. _I can kind of see the appeal of the power, the money, immortality, all those superficial things. But the cost is too high! She'd have to leave her parents forever. And doesn’t she care that she’ll thirst for human blood? I know the Cullens don’t drink it, but obviously that’s not normal. Most of them are murderers, plain and simple. What kind of awful person takes that kind of chance? Who would risk becoming that dangerous?_ As she talked, Leah started to pull away. Soon he was behind her, and the scent was getting stronger.

Sam picked up his pace to match hers. _Jacob thinks Edward brainwashed her. He thinks he can change her mind._

_I mean, I hope he does, but the more I learn about this girl, the more I think she’s kind of a hopeless case._

He said grimly, _I have to agree. All the same, she’s not going to die by Victoria’s hand on our watch_.

_Then let’s get her. Let’s end this tonight._ They were silent then, focused on their prey. As the acrid stench became stronger, Leah felt herself speeding away from Sam instinctively. She was getting close, and her instincts took over.

Sam began to worry when he realized all he could see of her was the occasional flash of her tail in between the trees. _Wait for me, Lee Lee._

_Run faster, Sammy,_ she retorted. _I’m not letting her get away because you’re slowing me down._

_You’re going to cross over our border soon. You can’t do that._

_No?_ she challenged. _Are you going to stop me?_

_The treaty will stop you,_ he pointed out.

She growled in frustration, _Is some stupid invisible line really going to do that? You said it yourself. We can’t let her kill people on our watch._

He offered, _She’s been smart enough not to kill on our lands or even in Forks. I think she knows better._

_So what?_ she asked. _Are the lives of people in Seattle or Port Angeles worth any less than the lives of people in La Push or Forks? Let’s just catch up to her, tear her apart, and end this._

_I’d love to do that,_ Sam answered. _But it’s not that simple. I know we were really lax about paying attention to the border when the Cullens were gone, but now they're back. If we cross onto their land, we’ll start a war. People could die. Our people. Our brothers. I can’t have that._

Before Leah could argue, she spotted a flash of orange in the treetops. _Shit, Sam! That’s her!_

_Where’s the other?_

_I don’t see it,_ she answered. _I still smell it, though, don’t you?_

_Yeah. Has she seen you?_

The monster turned just long enough to show Leah her crimson eyes. _Yeah, she has._ Victoria sprang into the next tree, catching it with a single arm and swinging to the next. _What is she, a damn monkey?_

Sam explained, _She’s trying to stay out of our reach. She heard us coming, or she smelled us._ Then he let out a bellowing howl to summon backup. There was no point in silence any longer; Victoria already knew they were there.

_She won’t be seeing anything soon, not once I catch up to her._ Leah fell into a dead sprint.

Sam urged, _Don’t engage her! Not by yourself! Wait for me, for our brothers._

_You want a piece of her? Then get over here!_

Victoria quickly realized that her attempts to stay off the ground were only slowing her down. Leah was gaining on her. She dropped to the forest floor and began to run. Leah easily leapt over a low bush and took off after her.

Soon Sam lost sight of her. Through her eyes, he saw that she was gaining on the vampire, who looked back in surprise. None of the wolves had ever gotten so close to her before. Then again, she had never faced Leah.

At the same time, he realized that the second trail was diverging from the first. He momentarily considered splitting away from Leah to follow it, but he immediately ruled out the option. There was no way he was leaving them alone.

New voices began to flood the pack mind. The other wolves demanded to know what was going on, where they were, and if anyone was hurt. Jacob worried about Bella, Jared comforted himself with the knowledge that Victoria was running in the opposite direction from Kim, and Paul was concerned about the distance to Sam and Leah. Embry and Seth hadn't yet arrived.

Jared was the closest to their location. _You follow us. Jacob, track the other scent. It split off behind me. Just follow our trail until you find the other path. Paul, go with him, but don't cross into Cullen territory._

Seth appeared at that movement, and Sam ordered him to call the Cullens to put them on alert. He felt Leah's relief that her brother wasn't being brought to the front line. In front of her, Victoria was dodging trees, leaping over fallen logs, and sprinting away from the pack, away from danger. She was fast, but Leah was faster.

Sam couldn't even see her tail any longer. _Lee Lee, wait!_

But she was stubborn. _I'm not letting her get away!_

_You're going to get hurt! Wait for me!_ He knew there was no way the rest of the pack would catch up with them in time, but he was so close.

_No! If you want a piece of her, catch up!_

Jacob suggested, _Leah, swing wide. Get in front of her. By then, Sam will have caught up, and you can pin her between you._

It was a good plan, and it would also allow Jared a little more time to join them. He was running full tilt, and though he was relatively slower than the other wolves, he happened to be nearby. But he wouldn’t reach them before the confrontation unless Leah delayed. She was frustrated, but she could feel that Sam was about to use an Alpha order to keep her from engaging Victoria, so she adjusted her course to Victoria's right. The monster glanced at her in confusion and started running away to the left. Leah simply pushed forward grimly. Jacob's idea could work. She was outpacing the vampire.

But Sam still tried to hold her back. _Don't go any further. You're about to cross into Cullen land._

Leah knew it, but she didn't care. _Who gives a fuck about the damn border? We can't let her get away!_

_I know, but not that way._

Leah snarled, _Forget the damn rules! We can take her down! We can end this now!_

But Sam insisted, _But not by crossing the border!_

_Fine!_ she snarled. If he wasn't going to let her follow Jacob's sensible plan, she would kill the monster another way. She turned straight for Victoria.

Sam yelled, _Not until I get there!_

_But she's getting away!_ Leah was enraged. She was furious at the murder in front of her, at the Cullens, at Sam's inept leadership, even at her own ancestors for striking a deal that allowed the leeches anyway near their people. She focused all that anger into the burning muscles of her legs, and she used it to propel herself forward. Soon she was within striking distance. Her senses narrowed, focusing on her prey. The voices of her brothers faded into meaningless noise. The stench of blood and death filled her nose, and she thought of the countless victims whose lives had been taken. Her rage propelled her as she leaped at the creature and sank her teeth into her right shoulder.

Victoria screeched in pain and clawed at Leah's eyes with her free hand. Leah pulled back before any damage was done, taking a chunk of stony flesh with her. Then she jumped forward again, aiming for the vampire's outstretched arm. Victoria saw her coming and backhanded her across her muzzle. It was enough to cause stars to float in front of her eyes, but not enough to slow her down. Leah swept out her claw and raked a gash in Victoria's side. Leah braced herself for a retaliating blow, but the coward hissed in pain and jumped up, catching hold of the branch of an oak. Victoria pulled herself onto the limb as Leah leapt up, but it was too high. The vampire launched herself at the next tree, and Leah growled in frustration from below.

_I'm going up there!_ she declared.

_How?_ Sam challenged. _Wolves can't climb trees._

_Maybe not, but I can._ Her brothers saw her intention to phase back into her human body.

_Don't!_ Sam used an alpha order. _You'll get yourself killed!_

Leah protested, _But she's getting away!_ It was true. Victoria was fleeing from treetop to treetop, and she had almost reached Cullen land. Leah kept pace directly beneath her on the ground.

The method of retreat was slow enough that Sam could catch up. _There's nothing we can do._

_There has to be something,_ Leah argued. _She's right there! Just let me climb up there. I'll get her down to the ground and we can rip her apart together. I can even phase once I'm up there, and I won't be as vulnerable._

_That's crazy! We can't risk it,_ Sam denied.

Paul interrupted, _It's worth a shot, though. If Victoria tries to go for Leah while she's still in her human body going up the trunk, Leah can still phase. And then they'd both be on the ground where you can help, Sam._

Sam was adamant. _It would only take a second for the bloodsucker to snap Leah's neck. We're not doing it._

Instead, they followed her until they reached the border of Cullen territory. Leah wanted to keep going. _She's going to run out of trees eventually. Then we'll have her! She'll have nowhere to go but down to us!_

_We can't,_ Sam repeated. _It's a violation of the treaty._

_Fuck the treaty!_ Leah fumed. _Who's here to stop us from crossing the border? No one! And besides, the Cullens are trying to protect Bella just like we are. They're not going to be upset that we took Victoria out before she could hurt their precious little pet human!_

_No!_ Sam yelled. _The Cullens take over from here. We can't leave the reservation._

_But they're not anywhere nearby!_ Jacob protested. _You don't see them, do you?_

_Seth will have reached them by now,_ Sam answered. _I'm sure they're on their way. Leah, stop!_ This was an order.

Leah's limbs froze beneath her as she reached the invisible line. Victoria kept going, jumping from limb to limb. She looked back in confusion, and finally laughed when she realized what had happened. Leah could do nothing but snarl back at her in frustration and watch helplessly as she disappeared.

X-x-x-x-X

 

 

 


	13. Intentions

The entire pack patrolled the border for hours, but Victoria never returned. None of them were surprised. She was lucky that she escaped with her life, and she knew it. She wouldn’t risk another attempt so soon. Her accomplice did the same. Jacob and Paul found the second trail. It, too, skirted the border. It seemed clear that the vampires had learned their weakness. Rather than being the best-protected strip of land on the peninsula, protected by the Cullens on one side and the shifters on the other, it had turned into some kind of no-man’s land after the coven returned.

Paul wanted to follow the trail east, but Sam would have none of it. Late in the evening he met with Carlisle, who promised to investigate fully. The coven leader didn’t offer access to his territory, and Sam failed to ask, so the pack remained crippled.

The next day, while Sam and Embry patrolled, Paul showed up unexpectedly on the Clearwaters’ back porch. Sue answered the door at his knock. She knew who he was, but thus far she had no idea that anything had happened between him and Leah. She let him in and called out, “Seth, Paul’s here for you.” Seth smacked his fork on the kitchen table loudly and slowly scraped his chair along the floor, rising as slowly as possible. Paul had never seen the boy wear anything but a wide grin, but now he was glaring with in anger. He had been subjected to vicarious memories of his sister’s trysts with Paul in the pack mind, and he wasn’t happy.

“Actually,” Paul corrected, “I’m not here for Seth specifically…”

“Oh. You’re looking for Leah, then?”

He nodded but didn’t know what else to say. He had hoped to catch her alone, and it simply hadn’t occurred to him that her family would be there. His father was gone so often that he felt like he lived alone and forgot that other people did not. The sound of water running through the pipes told him Leah was in the shower, the very same place he had so recently bent her over and taken her from behind.

“I kind of wanted to talk to her…” What he actually wanted to do involved little speech unless it was to tell her what to do, but he couldn’t exactly say that to Sue. In his experience, there were two types of mothers: the ones he could charm as easily as their daughters, and the ones who saw right through him. He was fairly certain Sue belonged in the latter group.

She pointed him to the kitchen table. If her own children’s insatiable appetites were any indication, Paul wouldn’t refuse a helping of the soup she had made. “She’ll be down in a bit. Have something to eat while you’re waiting.”

He would rather sit in Leah’s room until she emerged and tried, “Uh, thanks. But I think I’ll wait for her.” He motioned vaguely at the ceiling.

Sue arched a brow and looked him up and down in a way that made him feel even more naked than he already was, shirtless, dirty, and wearing only torn shorts and no shoes. So that was where Leah had learned that look. With a subtle narrowing of the eyes, she communicated that she wasn’t about to let him try to sneak a peek at her lovely young daughter as she emerged from a bath. It was much more effective than Seth’s death glare. Her words were kind but her tone was not. “Nonsense. You should join us. We’ve got plenty. I’ll bet you’re half starved from chasing those vampires around all night long, and I’m guessing that all you have at home is junk food and frozen dinners.” She was right. His father had practically moved in with his new girlfriend, and lately he only stopped by once in a while to drop off cash. It would have been enough to buy food for a normal teenage boy, but it wasn’t enough to feed a wolf. And though he could probably finish the entire pot of soup singlehandedly, Paul didn’t relish the thought of sitting with Leah’s mother and brother while he knew she was naked and wet only a few feet away, particularly since Seth knew in graphic detail what he and Leah had been up to. Had he told his mother? He suspected not, otherwise Sue would probably have greeted him on the porch with a shotgun.

“Oh, nah, I’m okay.” But his stomach betrayed him. It growled loudly in response to the delicious smell wafting over from the stove.

“No, I insist.” He felt like a small child when she pulled a chair away from the table and gestured for him to sit, and he complied.

Seth sat down in a huff and continued inhaling his meal. Sue poured a large helping of soup into a small mixing bowl and tore a large chunk of bread from a fresh loaf, setting them down in front of him. Then she sat down and simply watched him eat. He was more self-conscious than he could ever remember being, particularly because the water turned off abruptly, and he couldn’t stop himself from imaging what Leah looked like before she inevitably wrapped herself up in a towel. He felt himself growing hard, and he dropped a napkin in his lap and scooted his chair forward to hide as much of himself under the table as possible. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Seth’s scowl. The boy knew exactly what was going through his mind.

“Uh,” he muttered between mouthfuls. “Thanks. It’s good.”

“You’re welcome,” Sue said coolly. Then she leaned forward, and Paul was certain he was in trouble. Instead she asked, "So did anything happen after my kids came home?"

Paul was relieved. He had a feeling that Sue could be as deadly with her words as her daughter was with her claws. "A lot of nothing. We ran in circles all night while she got away. I mean, it's not like the leech was going to come back right away when we came so close to catching her. She's not stupid, unfortunately."

Sue asked, "What about the Cullens? Did they find anything?"

"Nope. They say that they're trying to follow her trail, but who knows? For all we know, they invited her here in the first place."

Seth had chatted with Bella on multiple occasions, and he guilelessly believed everything she told him. He blurted out, "No, why would they do that? She's obviously out to get Bella, and the Cullens are trying to protect her!"

Paul snorted. "You honestly believe that line of BS? They don't care about that girl. They're freaking vampires, for crying out loud, and she's food!"

"But they don't eat humans," Seth protested.

"So they say."

"They've always had those golden eyes, remember? The bad vampires like Victoria have red ones."

"Come on,” Paul disagreed. “How often do we see them? How often are they even in Forks? They were gone for months, just up and left without warning. Where’d they go? What were they doing? It couldn’t possibly have just been because Edward dumped the leech-lover. And before they moved back this time, they were gone for generations. Are you really so gullible that you think they never slipped up, not once, in all that time?”

"But they like humans!" Seth answered.

This time it was actually Sue who quietly responded, "They claim to, but I hear the ones in school all keep to themselves all the time. They don't make friends with the kids there, just Bella. And no one knows anything about the one who calls herself the mother. The doctor is the only one who actually seems to interact with people."

"They like Bella," Seth pointed out.

Sue sighed. "They like her so much that one of them led her into the woods, broke her heart, and fled town with the entire coven. The doctor quit his job with no notice. No one does that just because his son dumps a girl. I think Paul might be onto something. I, for one, would love to know what they're really doing with her, and where they went and why."

Seth maintained, "But they saved her life when Victoria's mate tried to kill Bella. She said it herself. She was there, right?"

Leah's voice added, "But one way or another, they're responsible for all the crap she’s gone through." Paul turned to see her standing behind him. "Even if they didn't set her up for some sick, twisted game, which I really wouldn’t put past them, they got her in trouble in the first place, didn't protect her properly, and then stranded her here with a rabid monster on the loose, itching for revenge."

“So they’re either incompetent or malicious,” Sue finished.

“Or both,” Paul agreed, “just like someone else I can think of.”

Leah sighed in exasperation as she ladled soup into a bowl. “I am so sick of Sam. Who cares about whatever’s going on with us personally? I don’t even care about that right now. We could have killed Victoria last night if he didn’t pull us back.”

“What exactly happened?” Sue asked. “I know she got away, but you didn’t really tell me how.”

Leah and Paul launched into the story, explaining how close Leah had come to catching Victoria. They said that Leah would have eliminated the threat if Sam hadn’t stopped her. Paul said, "You know, it wouldn't have been so bad if the Cullens were, you know, waiting on the other side of the border or something. But no, she gets away by running to their turf. It’s like we were playing a game of tag instead of trying to catch a murderer, and Cullen land was the safe zone."

Leah fumed, "It's ridiculous. The Cullens don't patrol, just us. What sense does that make? They don't need to sleep, but we're running ourselves ragged. They're richer than anyone else in town, but I can't get a job because I have to be on guard at all times. They're in high school for the dozenth time, but our boys are struggling to maintain C averages and I had to drop out of college. And supposedly Bella is their priority, but all they've done so far for her is let her get kidnapped by a vengeful bloodsucker and then dump her in the woods and abandon her while they go off to god knows where."

Seth halfheartedly interrupted, "But they came back for her, right?"

"Please," Paul scoffed. "You've heard Jake. Just when he was about to finally get somewhere with the girl, that little one popped up out of nowhere and said the other one was trying to kill himself."

"By standing outside in the sun, of all things.” Leah rolled her eyes. “I mean, if they were like vampires from stories and incinerated from sunlight, then yeah. That would have been suicide. But they sparkle. Sparkle!" Leah laughed darkly. "He ran outside to glitter himself to death. If that's a suicide attempt, it's the most ridiculous method I've ever heard of. I don't believe it for a second. They're just manipulating her, and she's either blind enough or stupid enough to fall for it."

Paul agreed. "At best, they're keeping her around like a pet. She should be insulted, but instead she worships the ground they walk on. What a shallow little twa…” He swallowed the rest of the word, not wanting to use such vulgar language in front of Sue.

Sue didn’t even notice. She shook her head thoughtfully. "Are you sure it's a fault of her character? They're monsters, albeit ones with good manners. They know how to put on a good mask. After all, no one in Forks suspects the truth, and it’s not like they’re inconspicuous. They actually do a terrible job of blending in. Isn't it more likely that Bella’s being brainwashed?"

Seth jumped in, "That's what's Jake thinks."

"It is plausible," Leah grudgingly admitted.

Sue nodded. "Her father has some suspicions of the sort. He doesn't know enough about what's going on to be sure, and after she disappeared he became too afraid to talk to her for fear of driving her away, but he thinks Edward has some kind of hold on her. I want to tell him what's going on, but the council is pushing back. I mean, I think it's wrong that no one told me what was going to happen to you. It's a parent's right to know. For goodness’ sake, they didn’t even warn you, and it was happening to you. What sense does that make? If they're so concerned about our secret getting out that they won’t even tell you, they’re surely not going to tell Charlie anything."

Paul wasn't convinced. "If Bella got brainwashed, then she let it happen. She practically asked for it by hanging around them at all. She knew what they were from early on, I hear. Anybody who knows but comes back for more is a moron."

Sue put up her hand. "I feel bad for Charlie that his daughter is falling under their spell, but I’m honestly much less concerned about that than I am about Victoria running around, free to murder at will. From the way you guys are telling it, Sam should really have thought about the fact that violating the treaty by crossing the border was a mere formality, at least since you were so close to catching her. If they’re as reasonable as they say they are, they wouldn’t have had a problem letting you onto their land, and if they aren’t as reasonable as they claim, we shouldn’t have a treaty with them at all."

"Exactly," Leah agreed. "He was so hell bent on following that stupid rule that we lost her. Which, as far as I'm concerned, is a much bigger screw up then stepping across an invisible line by a few feet. I mean, that's how close I was! I got a chunk out of her, at least."

Seth offered, "I don't know if it was really about the rule or the border. I mean, once she got up into those trees, I’m not sure how we were going to get her back down, whether or not we could cross the border. I thought it was more blatant the way he was slowing you down earlier. It probably had more to do with the fact that he didn't want you to get into a fight with her than anything else."

"But that's exactly why he's trapped me here!” Leah exclaimed. “To be a part of this pack and keep everyone safe. If he’s going to make me give up everything to protect this reservation, then he damn well better let me protect this reservation!"

Sue sighed. "He just isn't the boy I remember, is he?”

“It’s like he’s been bodysnatched,” said Seth.

Paul added, “I never particularly liked the guy, but once upon a time I’d never have imagined he could have gotten Leah hurt the way he did.”

Leah froze over her bowl of soup, glancing at her mother out of the corner of her eye. Paul realized that Leah hadn’t told Sue anything about the way Sam’s Alpha orders had so terribly backfired. He doubted she would have said anything about their tryst, but he was surprised that she didn’t tell her mother that she had gotten injured.

Sue noticed her daughter’s discomfiture and narrowed her eyes. “Was this last night? What’s he talking about, Leah? Are you okay?”

“Uh…” Leah stammered, “N-not last night. Y-you know. Dumping me for Emily and all.”

“No,” Sue said carefully. “He said ‘gotten you hurt’, not ‘hurt you’. Why were you wearing that baggy outfit yesterday? Since your core temperature shot up, I can barely keep you kids decent in the house. Why were you wearing that jogging suit? What were you hiding, young lady?”

“I was… I was…” Leah struggled to come up with a plausible explanation, but when Sue sighed heavily and crossed her arms over her chest, Leah came clean. “Sam made us fight. Me and Paul. We got kind of… rough.”

“Rough?” Seth’s eyes bugged out. “You nearly killed each other. I’ll be you still have some bruises under there, don’t you?”

Leah glared at Seth, but before she could reprimand her brother, Sue stood and started to lift up the back of Leah’s shirt. Leah batted her away. “Hey! There’s nothing to see, okay?”

“Nothing, huh?” Sue challenged. “Then why didn’t you say anything? What happened?” She turned her blazing eyes to Paul and pointed an accusing finger at him. “What did you do to my little girl?”

Paul held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, now, I didn’t mean…”

“He didn’t do anything, mom,” Leah protested. “Or anything he did was at Sam’s order.”

“Explain,” Sue ordered impatiently.

All three voices tried to answer simultaneously, and Sue had to stop and redirect each of them to get a coherent story. By the end, she was fuming. “You know, now that I've been initiated into the council, I realize that all those old men worship the ground he walks on, and I haven’t the slightest idea why. He doesn’t walk on water. He’s no miracle worker. He’s the opposite.”

“Do you think there’s anything you can do about it? Change their minds?” Seth asked.

Sue sighed. “They're not really thrilled that I'm a part of the old boys club, but I am, one way or another. I think it's time I used that for something."

For once, Leah looked optimistic. "Do you think you can do something? Put him in his place?"

Paul muttered, "Somebody needs to. Otherwise he's going to get somebody killed."

Sue looked thoughtful. “I'll see what I can do. Maybe it’s time for a private chat with Billy. It’s his son that’s supposed to be the Alpha, after all, not Sam. And it’s probably time that we reconsider letting the Cullens live so close by anyway. Even if they didn’t attract all kinds of trouble, the fact that they’re here is why you’re all phasing. I want you to have normal lives, not whatever this is. And I want you all out of danger. You’re our kids, not our military. Even the US army didn't draft boys until they turned eighteen.”

“You think there’s any way to make them leave?” Leah asked.

“I’ve got no idea,” Sue admitted. “But at the very least, if they claim to want to protect Charlie’s girl, they should let you all onto their land if you’re chasing the monster trying to kill her. Maybe we’ll start there.”

They talked for a while longer, but Paul’s yawns eventually triggered Sue to send him home to get some sleep. Instead of resting, he had been running all night. Before he left, he managed to pull Leah aside for just a few seconds. He was tempted to kiss her, but he was lucky that Seth hadn’t outed them to Sue, and he wasn’t about to do it himself. She would ask him what his intentions were toward her daughter. Normally he was happy to give a parent whatever answer he believed would best further his goal, honest or otherwise, but he didn’t have any idea what he would tell Leah’s mother if she asked. After all, he didn’t know what his goal was. He hadn’t the slightest clue what he was to Leah, and he only had the barest inkling of what he was to her. Was he her boyfriend? Definitely not. Were they dating? Not really. Friends with benefits? He wasn’t sure that Leah considered him a friend. Fuckbuddies? He hoped it was more than that.

When Sue pulled Seth aside to discuss how he was going to keep up with school and homework in addition to the demands of the pack, Paul took advantage. He was on his way out the door, and he tugged her outside and pressed her up against the wall, kissing her fiercely. When every thought had fled from her brain, he separated long enough to whisper into her ear, “When will you be alone?”

“Huh?” Something about him made her incoherent.

He slid his hand behind her head, tugged her head back using a fistful of hair, and ran his nose up and down her neck. “When will you be alone?” he repeated.

“Mmm…I'm not sure. Mom’s off today, and I don’t know...” His tongue tasting her skin sent electricity racing up and down her spine, distracting her from speech.

He chuckled, “You don’t know...”

“...if Seth is going out at all. I don’t know when I’ll be alone.”

His breath was hot in her ear. “That’s okay. I’ll come for you.”

And then he was gone.

X-x-x-x-X

Though she, too, was terribly sleep-deprived, Leah thought she might not be able to rest after what Paul said to her. Her mind raced as she lay in bed. She replayed recent events over and over, but despite the encounter with Victoria the night before, she didn’t spare a single thought for the vampires, Sam, or even Harry. She thought only of Paul’s rough hands on her body, his skilled tongue, his confident movements, and she couldn't quite believe that any of it had actually happened.  

It was a strange feeling, one that she hadn't experienced in so long. She was... distracted? Was that it? A more naive version of her might have said she had butterflies in her stomach. The new her would never admit such a foolish, childish thing, but why was she still awake and thinking about him? Was she actually excited to see him? To see Paul, of all people, and not just sexually? Had she fallen into a different dimension? Was she having a bizarre dream? Maybe she was still unconscious after hitting her head. Maybe she was still lying on the forest floor after Sam made them fight. Maybe the last couple days hadn’t happened at all. Maybe they had never slept together. It made as much sense as whatever seemed to be going on, disappointing though it would be.

Her attraction to him, though, was no surprise once she got used to looking at someone who wasn't Sam. She wasn't blind. He had always been a good-looking boy, and phasing had only enhanced that. It took away all traces of childishness from his face, leaving a strikingly handsome man. She had thought his personality detracted from his looks, but now she knew that his bravado hid real substance. They had had enough conversations by now to tell her that, even if many of those conversations were couched as arguments. And he was brave. He had wanted to go after Victoria, and he would have done it by himself had Sam not forbidden it.

For once, she fell asleep thinking about someone other than Sam or Harry.

She awoke to a clicking sound against the window. She looked into the dark, and Paul was standing in her backyard with a handful of pebbles. A white paper bag sat at his feet. "Come on!" He gestured for her to join him.

Her mother was still awake, so rather then go downstairs, she simply slid her window open and dropped noiselessly to the ground.

"Morning, gorgeous."

She looked skeptically into the night sky. “Morning?”

He shrugged. “It’s morning somewhere.” Then he handed her the bag.

"What's this?"

"A dozen roses," he answered dryly. "What do you think? Open it."

Inside were three hamburgers and a large order of fries. She grinned involuntarily. "Oh my God. This is so much better than flowers."

He smirked at her. "I'm going to give you a workout, so you have to keep your energy up." She hoped he couldn’t see the way she flushed.

She ate a burger as they walked, and held one out to him. "Want one?"

"Nah. There were seven in there when I bought them."

"Mmm. Do they put crack in these or something? Because they're really fucking good."

He laughed as he peeked at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked like a chipmunk with her cheeks stuffed full. "You're a cheap date, aren't you, Clearwater?"

"Is that what this is?" she asked.

He shrugged. "What would piss Sam off more, that this is a date or a hookup?"

"I have no idea. Hookup, probably. Because then there's not even an attempt to make it look respectable."

He leered at her to hide his disappointment. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he wanted it to be a date. "Good. Because what I'm planning to do to you? It definitely isn't respectable."

She flushed and cleared her throat. Paul was so different than Sam. He was different than anyone she had ever met. Sam would never have said such a thing. "You don't screw around, do you?"

His voice was low. "Not when I know what I want." He palmed her ass, and she jumped slightly. She was embarrassed at the way her temperature increased. "Head down that path." He pointed over her shoulder.

She didn't recognize where they were going. "What's down there?"

"Nowhere Sam would ever have thought to take you."

She could think of no response, so she ate the rest of her food as they walked. He fell slightly behind her, and she knew he was watching her ass. She added a little sway for his benefit.

It had the desired effect. He hummed with blatant appreciation. "I thought I was really into tits, but then I saw you. With you I don't have to choose. You're equally hot from every angle. That ass... I want to sink my teeth into it." He popped up in front of her and blatantly ogled her chest. She wasn't wearing anything special, the opposite in fact. A simple grey tank top and matching cotton shorts were all she had on. But suddenly she was very conscious that she wasn't wearing a bra.

She gaped at him. "Do girls usually like it when you say shit like that?"

"I can be an asshole sometimes, but I'm not dumb enough to say most of this stuff out loud, not like that, anyway. But you're not just some girl," he explained. "You're a girl who can read my mind. What's the point of pretending around you? Even if I manage to fool you for a little while, you're going to see eventually." He thought about the next thing he wanted to tell her. He might as well put all his cards on the table. As he had just told her, she was going to figure it out anyway. "And I've never wanted another girl as badly as I want you."

Her jaw dropped open. Since she had phased, she hadn't felt feminine, let alone attractive. "You can't be serious."

“You don’t believe me? Not even after the last couple days?” She just blinked at him in response. "Let me show you." He held out his hand. "Come on."

Her mind had gone blank. She placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her off the beaten path.

She saw a rock formation ahead of them. Was that where they were going? She had seen this place on her patrols, but didn't think anything was there. As they got closer, she realized she was right. At the base of the rock wall was an opening, tall enough to stand in, but rather shallow. It wasn't even big enough to call a cave. She began, "It looks like…"

"A wolf den," he finished. "I told you it wasn't respectable."

"No, it's not," she agreed. Her eyes glinted at him in the moonlight. "It's perfect. It's for animals, and…"

His voice was low. If it weren’t for her supernatural senses, she wouldn’t have heard him at all. "We're animals."

They proved each other right. Their first time together had been surprisingly tender. This time was nothing of the sort. His kiss was bruising. Harsh. He devoured her. She felt his teeth sinking into her lips first, then her neck, and finally her breasts. He was so aggressive that she worried he would bite her again when he lowered his face between her thighs and inhaled deeply, but he used only his lips and his tongue. He reduced her to a trembling, writhing mess and refused to let her touch him back, pinning her wrists firmly to the ground as he brought her to orgasm. His grip left marks, just as his fingers bruised her shoulders when he finally slithered up to show her how she tasted.

When he smirked and told her that he would tame her wild wolf, she swept out the arm that was holding him above her, and she flipped him onto his back. Before he knew what had happened, she took him into her mouth, opened her throat, and slid down until her nose pressed against his skin. As blissful as it was, he wasn’t ready to give her control, so he immediately shifted his hands along the back of her skull and held her in place, resisting her attempts to pull back and breathe for several extra seconds. When he finally allowed her to move, she gulped lungfuls of air. Her eyes blazed with anger and she opened her mouth to reprimand him, but he stabilized his cock with one fist, and with the other hand he pushed her back onto it before she could speak. He began to mutter incoherent curses as he lifted himself into her mouth.

He controlled the rhythm by force, and as angry as it made Leah, she was even more aroused. He was certain of it due to the scent of her pheromones filling the small space. She retaliated by carefully raking her teeth along his shaft, causing him to gasp. It would have been uncomfortable or even painful to a normal human, but Paul was of a hardier species. His moans and the erratic staccato of his thrusts meant that he liked it. So she grinned around him and reached up to cup his heavy balls in her hand, and she applied just enough pressure to remind him that she was in charge. He immediately loosened his grip on her hair. She rewarded him by tilting her chin up and looking him straight in the eyes as she soothed them by taking each one into her mouth and gently suckling.

Paul barely kept his eyes from rolling back into his head. He had to stop her before he completely lost control. He pulled her up and gave her a brutal kiss on her mouth, and then he shoved her onto her back and knelt between her legs. He ran his hands up her long calves and along the silky skin of her thighs, and he stabilized himself on his knees. He grabbed her by her hips and dragged her to him, leaving more bruises on her skin when he held her in place. He roughly penetrated her, growling.

She was hot, so hot, and impossibly, insanely tight. Every. Single. Time. He gritted his teeth together and snarled as he slammed into her. He wanted to slow down, wanted to ensure her pleasure before his own, wanted to make it last. But something about her made him lose control. The feral part of his spirit took over as he fucked her. He no longer knew where he ended and the wolf began. He felt himself trembling as he resisted the urge to phase, and the only thing that kept him from rutting at her with his wolf’s enormous cock was the sight of her feminine human body beneath him. His vision locked onto the place where their bodies joined, and he knew he would tear her apart if he phased.

He was unable to slow his pistoning, unable to utilize any delicate movements of his fingers or even coordinate a twist of his hips for her pleasure. But it didn’t matter. The way she threw her head back, the sounds of her gasps, the tenor of her cries, the desperate expression on her face, how tightly she held him inside her with her heels wrapped around his back, and how deeply her nails dug into his forearms as she held onto him, all these things told him more clearly than words that she was fully lost in the moment, wholly given over to him, and overwhelmed with ecstasy.

His climax was inevitable, swift, and consuming. It was impossible to resist when he felt the telltale clenching of her pussy all around him. He threw his head back and howled as he released himself into her, his wolf supremely satisfied that his seed spread through her womb.

After, she cradled him against her breast. Now he ran his fingers gently up and down her flat belly, and he raised her bruised wrists to his lips and kissed them. He saw her looking at him, and she murmured, “I don’t mind. I like it.”

He thought to himself that she had better get used to it. His wolf purred in satisfaction at his marks on her. He inhaled deeply and knew she smelled of him, both inside and out. The primitive part of his brain wanted her to stay that way. In fact, it aroused him so much that he lengthened against her thigh. She chuckled at the sensation and teased him, “Haven’t had enough, is that right?”

He silenced her with his mouth on hers, and this time when he took her, he made certain to leave scent trails all over her body. He made her orgasm over and over with his fingers, his mouth, and his cock until she was nearly insensate. And when he finally came once more, he fisted his shaft until he painted her belly with white lines, and he wished he could somehow stain her skin permanently so that every other wolf who approached knew that she was his.

X-x-x-x-X


	14. Taking Sides

"What are you doing?" Seth asked as soon as she walked in the front door.

Leah looked up. Her brother was frowning. "Excuse me?"

"You're humiliating me. The first time was bad enough, but I blame Sam for that mostly, and Paul. But the bathroom still reeks of the two of you. I shower in there. It’s like it’s on me now. How am I supposed to get clean?" There was a slightly hysterical edge to his voice. "And you just went to meet him again, didn't you?"

She scowled to mask her embarrassment. "So? Since when do I need your permission?"

"Lee, he isn't just some guy. We basically share a brain with a half a dozen other dudes. Anything you do with any of them, all of it I get to see. How would you Iike it if you had to see me that way?"

She blushed as she realized that their most recent encounter would embarrass him even more than the others had. Gloating at Sam felt like justice, but forcing all the vivid images on her own brother? She didn't want him to know what they did. She sighed, "I didn't plan it, okay? But the cat's kind of out of the bag already. Plus I kind of like rubbing it in Sam's face, and, uh..." She was about to say that the sex was phenomenal, but Seth already knew, though he wished he didn't.

"Yeah, well, that I get. Even if all that stuff with Emily isn't really his fault, he's still kind of awful now."

"Come on, fault or not, he clearly could be handling all that stuff with Em better, don't you think? I'm actually not sure he could be doing any worse."

He snorted. “Don’t ask how it could get any worse, because then you’ll find out.”

“Since when did you get to be so pessimistic?” It was uncharacteristic of her sunny little brother.

Seth shrugged and plopped down on the couch. "Everything’s different now.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“I used to like Sam, you know?"

Leah sat down beside him, laughing humorlessly. "Not as much as I did." She paused, looking at the dirt that had collected under her nails from running through the forest and from the cave floor the night before. "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable."

"It's okay." He lowered his head into her lap, startling her. He used to do it all the time when they were children. He loved it when she ran her fingers through his hair. They had spent hours in this very position, usually watching movies or cartoons. She reached for him, but he pulled away abruptly.

She missed him immediately. In fact, she had missed him acutely ever since their father had died even though he was right there. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head and wrinkled his nose. "It's just, you kinda…"

Realization dawned. "Oh my god, I'm sorry. I'll take a shower. That's what I was going to do anyway."

As she stood to leave, he asked quietly, "So is this a real thing now? With Paul?"

She turned on the bottom step to face him. "I don't know. It's not fake, but I don't know what it is."

"Are you dating him?"

She shrugged. "I haven't got a clue. I don't think so. I mean, we’ve never gone on anything resembling a date."

"Do you want to be?"

"I don't know that either. It's not like we planned this, you know. Six months ago, if you asked me if I'd give Paul a second thought, I'd have figured you must be talking about a different Paul. But of all the insane things that have happened to us, this has to be the least surprising, don't you think?"

He grudgingly agreed, "I guess. Which really goes to show just how screwed up everything is. I just don't want to see it in such graphic detail. Or smell it." He grimaced.

"I'll talk to him about getting a little more control over his thoughts. And my own.”

He smiled a little. "Do you think you can join a convent even if you're not Catholic? Because that would probably be the best solution. Not to sleep with him or anyone else."

She grinned at him. "I'll tell you what. I'll become a nun when you become a monk."

His face softened. "But really, sis, I just don't want to see you get hurt again. I'll kill him if he hurts you. I mean it."

With false bravado, she declared, "I don't exactly think we're at the point where I could get hurt." As she went up the stairs, she hoped it was true.

X-x-x-x-X

Sue set up a meeting with Billy two days later. She wanted to talk to him about Sam's leadership, the vampire stalking their borders, and the Cullens. They met in the council hall. She informed him of the Alpha orders that had resulted in her daughter getting battered until she was unconscious. She spoke of the pack leader's schizophrenic attitude toward the girl he claimed still to love. She described how difficult he had made things for her daughter. Billy was somewhat concerned, but he took her words with a grain of salt. As much as he respected Sue, she was far from objective. She would obviously favor her own children in a dispute, just as he was likely to do. But she could afford the luxury of her emotional connections. Billy knew that his top priority had to be the good of the tribe. He knew he was only getting one side of the story. Sam had been trustworthy so far. His life was overturned as much as any other pack member, and when he had first phased, he did so alone. Until Leah joined the pack, Sam displayed only strong leadership skills, and Billy gave him the benefit of the doubt. Leah, on the other hand, had only caused chaos since her initiation.

He kept his opinions to himself, but Sue saw his reticence, and she switched tactics. She removed her own children from the equation as best she could. She reframed the discussion around the local coven of vampires. She pointed out the ways in which their presence was destructive to their tribe. She argued that even if they themselves did not attack humans, their presence obviously attracted others who did. She feared for the safety of Bella Swan, in addition to all the other residents of the community, both in La Push and in nearby Forks. She questioned why the Cullens had disappeared, where they had gone, and why they had been allowed to come back with no explanation and full impunity. She described the folly of limiting their protectors to the strict borders of the reservation. And finally she asked how they could risk the futures and the safety of their own children just to uphold an old treaty made in a previous era.

Billy tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible. "You must know that it isn't by choice. It's not as if they asked permission to move back. If they had, we never would have granted it.”

“What happened, exactly?"

He explained, "They just appeared. We didn't get any warning. They came when they wanted to, and after the doctor was already working at the hospital and the others were enrolled at the high school, we received word that they considered the treaty still intact. The coven leader promised that they would not drink of human blood, and they said they would not to cross onto our land, and that was all. With what power were we supposed to turn them away?"

Sue shook her head. “Of all the places in the world, why here?"

"The cloud cover, for one. And the isolation. I suspect there are too many… temptations, for lack of a better term, in a city. And too much competition. I gather that they don't want to associate with others of their kind, and I believe that someplace like Seattle, for example, or even the smaller cities, have their own covens. Then there's the doctor’s work. He needs a hospital that won't look at his credentials too closely. Any major institution would do a real background check. I know he has forged documents, but he has worked in too many places for too long for someone not to notice if they paid enough attention, and how could he explain so many decades, centuries even, of his career? Someone around here is covering his tracks and making sure that no one looks too closely."

Sue slumped forward. It had never occurred to her how powerful the coven must really be. “Who are they, really?"

“Monsters, the lot of them. I'm not under any illusions, Sue. None of us are, nor were we when they first returned. Especially not Harry. But you must remember, when they appeared, there wasn't a single protector. There was no one to push them back. We asked them to leave, of course we did. We told them that they were not welcome."

"What did they do?"

"Whatever they wanted to do. They wanted to stay, so they stayed. They ignored us. What were we to do? Forbid them? We have no power over them. This entire peninsula may be our ancestral home, but we lost most of the land years ago, well before the coven arrived. And not one wolf existed to turn them back. Even when Sam phased, he was only one against seven. It is only now, with the turning of your children, that our numbers match theirs. For so long, our only weapon against them was the threat to expose them. But they have the same power over us. Can you imagine? If we told the world who they were, they would turn around and tell the world what we are. Then the government would know, and every other vampire in the world would know. It’s one thing to hold a single coven at bay, but to fight against every Cold One who might pit themselves against us, all the while hoping that our children aren’t dragged off to some military lab somewhere to be dissected? The risk was too great. It still is.”

Sue murmured, “It’s a stalemate. Mutually assured destruction.”

“Yes. We are having our own little Cold War right here on this rainy little strip of land. For once, I’m glad my daughters are far, far away from here.”

“There has to be something we can do,” she insisted.

He answered, “I’m open to suggestions.”

“They say they’re trying to protect Charlie’s girl. Do you believe them?”

“Not for a second. But they haven’t turned her, either, and I understand she has been begging them to do so.”

“Someone needs to shake some sense into her.”

Billy looked sorrowful. “She thinks she’s Juliet and that Edward’s her Romeo.”

“She seems to have forgotten that both Romeo and Juliet both kill themselves in the end.”

“Only this time, Romeo was a corpse to begin with.”

She tried to appeal to his sympathy as a parent. “We have to tell Charlie. We can’t just let them lure her in, destroy her, and just sit back and watch. If it was one of your girls, wouldn’t you want to know? Isn’t it the right thing to do?”

For the first time, Billy looked offended. “Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I’ve wanted to tell him a hundred times? He’s like a brother to me. I’ve played out the scenarios, Sue. Trust me. What would he do with the knowledge? Forbid her from seeing him? That would only make her more desperate to be with him. Tell Edward he can’t see Bella anymore? Ask Carlisle to take his family away? They won't go unless they want to. And then the coven would know that he knows. Maybe he would try to use that. Maybe he would threaten to expose them. If I know anything of the Cold Ones, I know they protect their secret. They’d kill him just for knowing, and they would make it a slow and painful death if he told anyone what they are. Or what if he tried to kill them himself? I certainly wish I could. He would too. But with what? His gun is worthless. A stake to the heart? Holy water? Push them into the sunlight? None of those things do anything to them. Our children are the only ones who stand a chance, and I’m not ready to send my son to battle them over Bella Swan’s bad decisions. Are you?”

The color drained from her face, and suddenly she looked older than her years. “No. My children have suffered enough.”

“I agree. I don’t know what the answer is, but bringing Charlie into it won’t help. He can’t know, Sue. It puts his life at risk. For some reason they seem to like Bella alive and human. I don’t pretend to understand it or to trust that it will stay that way, but for now she seems safe enough.”

“Do you know that she wants to be turned? How can that be safe?”

He nodded somberly. “I know. She has fallen under their spell. But for some reason, they haven’t turned her. They seem to understand that it’s a violation of the treaty. They argue that she’s asking for it, but that means little to me. A human life is a human life as far as I’m concerned.”

“What are they going to do?”

“I don’t know. All I can do is plan our response, if it comes to that.”

“And what is our response?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

The chief pointed out, “That’s a matter of debate. You know that. Sam doesn’t want to risk any of the pack. He says if she wants to die, let her die. My son wants to kill Edward himself. I don’t know what the answer is. It’s probably something in between. And right now it seems it hardly matters. If the other one, the killer, the female, if she gets to Bella first…”

“My daughter almost had her. Did you know that? Leah is faster than any of the boys, and she literally had Victoria in her jaws, but she got away because of the terms of that awful treaty.”

Billy frowned. Sam and Jacob had both given him reports, but neither said anything like that. “What are you talking about?”

“Victoria is using Cullen land as some kind of safe zone. She goes there to get away. It’s one thing to flee into the ocean. She doesn't need to breathe, so the pack can't follow. But the other side of the border? She shouldn’t be any safer on their side than ours, yet that’s where she runs when the pack gets close. My daughter wanted to follow her there, take her down, but Sam pulled her back.”

“He does have to abide by the rules…”

Sue snapped, “If the Cullens are honestly trying to keep her alive, do you really think they’d protest when our pack kills the monster trying to drain Bella, just because it happened on their land and not ours?”

“Probably not,” he admitted.

“She could have ended it that night. Did you know that? My daughter could have taken care of the threat once and for all. How many people has that monster killed? How many missing hikers, townspeople, residents?”

“Too many.”

“That’s right. A single one is too many. How many more need to die? What’s Sam’s plan to take her down? Run the border over and over? Sprint around in circles?”

Billy shifted in his chair, visibly uncomfortable. “It’s not like that.”

“Really?” she challenged. “Because to me, it looks like he’s got my kids chasing their own tails. He isn’t thinking straight. He’s not objective. My daughter didn’t get hurt pursuing that Cold One, Billy. She got hurt because Sam ordered her to fight Paul, ordered them silent so they couldn’t protest, and wandered away while they nearly killed each other. Bad enough that Sam can’t figure out how to kill Victoria. He can hardly run the pack. The only person he knows how to hurt is my daughter!”

Billy tried to placate her. “That’s not fair, Sue. He had no choice between Emily and Leah. The spirits chose for him.”

“Emily?” Sue hissed. “Did you hear me say her name a single time? I’m not talking about the imprint. I’m talking about his leadership skills. His cognitive skills. He’s not meant to be Alpha, and it’s showing. It matters. Does one of the pack need to die before the council will recognize that?”

“You’re being melodramatic,” Billy scolded.

“Melodramatic? Our children’s lives have been overturned. My boy is a child, Billy, and so is yours. My daughter is barely a woman. They’re up all night, running themselves ragged, failing out of school, can’t get jobs. We’ve asked them to put their lives on the line, and we can’t even give them a sane leader to follow. Maybe your son doesn’t want the responsibility. Fine. But what will it take for the council to realize that Sam Uley isn’t fit to lead?”

"I know that it has been hard for your children, and especially your daughter. What happened between her, Sam, and his imprint is truly unfortunate. We all feel for her. But what's between them, or isn't, is between them alone. It isn't pack business, and it isn't ours. He's a good man."

She shook her head. "He _was_ a good man. I even thought he was good enough to marry my little girl. But now I don't trust that he has her best interests in mind, and you shouldn't trust him with your boy either."

X-x-x-x-X

Billy took Sue's words to heart and decided to speak with his son and gather opinions from other council members. While he was considering every angle, Sam called together a pack meeting in his cabin. Neither Leah or Paul had any interest in attending, but they had no choice. It was mandatory.  

Paul offered to pick Leah up at her house and go over together. He knew she hated going back to the home she had shared with Sam. She had picked out most of the furniture herself and paid for much of it with her own money. Emily had changed some of the decor, but not all of it. Too many things looked the same. Everywhere she turned, something reminded her of her old life and her lost future. It made him nauseous, but Paul and the rest of the pack even knew all the places in the house where Sam and Leah had made love: the kitchen table, the bathroom sink, Sam's recliner, the rug on the living room floor. None of it had changed. The bed was the same, though it was adorned with different sheets. They hadn't even flipped over the couch cushions after the fateful moment where Sam had last enjoyed the touch of his first love, the same place he had looked out the window to see Emily's car pull into the driveway, and his life had completely changed. Paul wanted to sit on that very same couch and pull Leah into his lap just to see Sam's expression.

An hour before the meeting, Paul arrived at the Clearwater house. Maybe they could even sneak in a quickie. Sam would blow a gasket if they walked into his home covered in each other’s scents. But Seth answered the door alone. "She's not here."

Had she forgotten? "Oh. I told her I'd pick her up."

"I know. But Sam showed up a couple hours ago and said she had to cover patrol last minute. He said something about Kim meeting Jared for something. I'm not sure exactly what, but I guess it left them shorthanded."

Paul clenched his fists. "Didn't she patrol last night? And isn't she on again tonight?"

"Yeah. She wasn't too happy. It was basically the middle of the night for her when he got her up."

Paul knew that Sam's choice of coverage had been deliberate. He knew for a fact that other members were also available, and Leah already had more patrols than anyone else. "Did he at least give her tonight off? She's not getting enough sleep as it is."

Seth shook his head. "No. I offered to take tonight or cover today, but he turned me down. He said I needed to do my homework. I mean, I do, but not as much as my sister needs some rest. I think he knew that…"

"… that I was on my way over. That's why he made her patrol. To keep her away from me." It was as if Sam was engaged in a battle of psychological warfare with Leah. He was exerting his dominance just because he could. Was he trying to break her in the process? "Let him try. I don't care if he's the alpha. He can't control her every moment, Let alone mine."

Seth and Paul were the last to arrive at the cabin. Leah was wedged into a loveseat with Embry. Jacob sprawled across the couch by himself, and Jared had taken over Sam's armchair. Emily was going around the room offering blueberry muffins, and the boys were inhaling them. Emily stopped in front of Leah. "You must be starving. You should have one before the boys finish them."

Leah was staring blankly over Emily’s shoulder at nothing. "No thanks, I'm not hungry."

Emily protested, "Oh, I know that's not true. I've seen the way all you wolves eat. You really are animals when it comes to your food." Emily smiled as if she was making a friendly joke, but Paul and Leah knew she wasn't. She was insultingly Leah’s femininity.

"I’m fine," Leah repeated firmly.

But Emily pressed on, "You don't have to pretend like you're a normal girl in front of us, honey. Go ahead and eat one. I know you want to."

Now Leah glared at Emily. Her voice was tight and her jaw clenched. “Are you deaf? I said no."

Emily stepped back, her face falling into a wounded expression. "I'm just trying to help. I'm sure you've had a long day, and I just want you to feel better. You don't look good. You've got bags under your eyes, and they look kind of bloodshot. Your hair's all…" She made a fluttering gesture with her hands. "And your clothes, they’re not exactly... You look exhausted. I'm worried about you."

Leah scowled at the thinly veiled insults and false concern. "I'm exhausted because I only got three hours of sleep. Will your muffins fix that?"

"Don't be rude," Sam chided. "Emily works hard to take care of everyone in the pack, including you."

Leah opened her mouth to give an angry reply, but Paul beat her to the punch. He scoffed, "Are you serious? If anybody is taking care of the pack, it's Leah. There are seven of us, but she does half the patrols. What's more helpful? Dealing with the leeches or these dry muffins?" Paul reached over Emily’s shoulder, picked one up, and crushed it in his fist to demonstrate its texture. Crumbs scattered over the carpet.

"Hey!" Emily yelped. “If you don't want one, just say so. You don't have to destroy it!"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Leah just told you she didn't want one, and you were still trying to shove one down her throat. Get over yourself."

Emily looked shocked, and Sam growled, "Paul, watch it. One more word out of you, and I'll…"

"You'll what?" Paul interrupted. "Order me to be quiet again? Look how well that worked for you last time. Go ahead, see what happens. It’ll be a fun game to see how your order backfires."

Embry tried to defuse the situation. "Guys? This isn't why we’re here, right? I don't think Sam called to this meeting just to have all of you air out all your drama."

Sam glowered at Paul, but he acquiesced and pulled Emily to the other side of the room, holding her against his chest. "You're right. That's not why I called this meeting.”

Paul glanced at Leah, who was pointedly looking away from the couple. Emily was nuzzling against Sam as if they were alone instead of running a meeting. Paul knew she was deliberately flaunting her relationship in front of Leah. He saw Leah ball her fists in her lap and clench her jaw. He wanted to touch her, but Embry was taking up most of the loveseat, and there was no room for him. He did the next best thing. He squatted down and took her right ankle into his hand, turned around to sit, and settled himself on the floor between her legs as she shifted in surprise.

Sam glared at him but continued, “I have an announcement to make. As you all know, we got very close to catching the redhead a couple nights ago."

Leah snapped, "And I would have had her if it weren't for you pulling me back. We'd be done with all of this already if you had just let me go after her."

Paul ran his fingers up and down her smooth calf as Sam eyed them and stuttered, "N-no one knows what might or might not have happened. You might also be dead if I let you take her on by yourself.”

“We couldn’t stand it if you got hurt, Leah,” Emily added.

Leah stiffened, and Paul squeezed her ankle and loudly snorted at Emily’s hypocritical statement. Under his breath, he muttered, "Yeah, right."

Sam looked increasingly more agitated, but ignored him and continued, “So far we've done an amazing job keeping our own territory protected, but we've been pretty helpless on the other side of the border. That's why I met with the coven leader, and we've come to a new agreement. From now on, we have access to their land."

Jacob asked, "What exactly does that mean? No more border?"

"No," Sam answered firmly. "This isn't a free-for-all. They are absolutely not allowed on our land, and they know it. They've loosened their restrictions on us. Not the other way around."

Embry asked, "How'd you manage that? I'm surprised they didn't demand access to the Rez."

This time it was Jared who answered. "Sam was very clear. He wasn't giving an inch. But he told them how they let Victoria get away, not us. It was only because they weren't letting us onto their territory that she got away, and they’re the ones who didn’t track her down."

Sam added, "They couldn't exactly keep pretending to have the Swan girl’s best interest in mind and not let us follow Victoria. It wouldn't have looked any good. Plus I didn't give them much of a choice."

Leah had finally loosened up from Paul’s touch enough to lean forward and drape her arms around his neck. Paul smirked at Sam and Emily while Leah challenged, "So you should have let me keep going in the first place. Apparently they wouldn't even have minded."

Sam’s voice was tight. "I had no way to know that beforehand. And there was no way I was risking your life like that without being certain. They would have had grounds to attack you, and I couldn't risk getting you hurt."

Leah rolled her eyes. "For god’s sake, make up your mind. You aren't sending me out on patrol all the damn time just to let me stretch my legs. Either trust me to do the job you're making me do, or leave me out of it."

Sam started to protest, but Paul interrupted him. "Since you made Leah patrol today and last night, you are giving her tonight off, correct?"

Sam looked startled and irritated. He obviously had no intention of doing so. "There isn't anyone else…"

"I can patrol," Seth offered. "Just like I told you earlier."

Sam didn't change his answer. "You're supposed to be focusing on your schoolwork."

"It's Saturday," Seth pointed out. "I've got plenty of time to finish my homework."

Sam argued, "But you're on again tomorrow."

Jacob offered, “I can patrol by myself. I didn’t realize Leah was on so much. I wasn’t paying attention to everybody else’s schedule, just mine. She’d be dead on her feet, so I’d be better off by myself anyway. I’d rather go solo than run her into the ground.”

“No one patrols alone,” Sam insisted. “It’s better to have a tired partner than no partner at all.”

Paul jumped in. "I'll cover for Leah. I kind of hope I see a little action, too." He reached up to slide his fingers along Leah’s arms to illustrate the dual nature of his words.

Sam couldn’t stand his ground without looking totally unreasonable, so he abruptly ended the meeting and told them to get out of his house. Paul wrapped his arm around Leah’s waist as they left, snickering as they passed through the front door. He grabbed Leah’s ass, causing her to squeal. Behind them, Sam grabbed the doorjamb so hard that the wood splintered under his fingers. Leah didn’t even notice the way Emily failed to draw Sam’s attention away from them. Sam shook his imprint's arm free when she tried to pull him back into the house, and the only person who saw the wounded look on her face was Jared. Paul’s lips on the back of Leah’s neck were too distracting. His legs tangled with hers as they walked and made her trip, and she laughed as they stumbled into the woods.

X-x-x-x-X

_So is she your girlfriend, or what?_ Jacob asked.

_No,_ Paul answered. He wasn’t sure what they were, but she wasn’t his girlfriend. He was dangerously close to wanting her to be, though. That had never happened before, and it made him intensely uncomfortable, particularly since he wasn’t alone in his own brain.

Jacob veered off, heading toward Bella’s house now that he could wander freely through Forks. He didn’t expect her to be home, but he wanted to guard it anyway. _Are you dating?_

Paul gave a mental shrug as he sniffed at a stale trail on the ground. Couldn’t they talk about something else? Although he supposed he brought it upon himself with the little display he had just put on for Sam’s benefit. _I dunno. What’s dating, anyway?_

_Uh, is that a real question?_

_I don’t date,_ Paul replied, trying to keep his thoughts directed and simple.

Jacob was incredulous. _What about Shelly? Liana? Kristen?_

Before Jacob could list more girls, Paul interrupted, _I didn’t date them. We hooked up._

Jacob snorted out loud and thought, _Did they know that?_

_Well, eventually…_ Paul admitted.

_So they found out that you weren’t really that into them when you pulled a fade?_

Defensively, Paul answered, _It’s not my fault they thought there was something else there._

_Does Leah think there’s something else there?_

Paul had no idea. His ignorance was unpleasant and unwanted, and he didn’t want Jacob to know. _What do you think? You can see into her brain just like I can. More, actually, since Sam makes sure I never patrol with her._

_After what happened with Sam, I think she’s going to be very careful._

To deflect the conversation away from his own confused emotional state, he flashed up an image of a naked Leah reaching out for him. _Does she look like she’s being careful?_ She was going to be pissed, but it was as tame as he could make it. Although once he got started, he didn't really know how to stop. Jacob got an eyeful of Leah in a dozen very compromising positions.

_Dude, she's going to kill you for showing that to me_. Jacob was right. But at least it worked for its intended effect. Jacob wasn't wondering about their relationship status any longer. _But damn, she’s so hot!_

_Yeah, I kind of have to figure out a way to rein it in. Especially if I have to patrol with Seth._

_Probably you won't live long enough to do a patrol with her brother. Hell, even I'm going to have trouble not thinking about that when I'm phased in with either of them._ After a pause, Jacob noted with good-natured jealousy, _At least it looks like it was worth it._

Paul said smugly, _She is pretty damn talented._

_I'll say. Is that what it's always like?_

Paul couldn't restrain his answer and blurted out, _With other girls? No. It's like I don't even want to call it by the same word. It's almost not the same thing, even._

_What do you mean?_ Jacob didn't understand.

_Like, I’ve been with enough girls, and sex is always good, you know? Like… Like…_ He struggled to explain himself. _Some of them can play T-ball, but other girls, they're varsity level. But Leah? She’s not even playing the same game. She’s… She’s… She’s playing..._

Jacob snickered. _You're going to say basketball, aren't you?  You're trying to tell me that having sex with Leah is like playing basketball. That's hysterical. I may not have much experience, but I’m pretty sure sex is nothing like basketball._

_Shut up,_ Paul bristled, although Jacob had seen the thought in his mind. He was thinking about basketball. _You're fucking up my analogy._

_It’s a stupid analogy!_

_Fine! It’s like the difference between Little League and the Majors, okay? That’s what I meant._

Now Jacob was practically in hysterics. _Are you trying to tell me that Leah is as good as a pro?_

_Yeah, I guess._

_Like a hooker?_

_No!_

Jacob had to stop running since he was laughing so hard. _You totally are! I’m totally going to tell her that you started off comparing sex with her to playing basketball, but tried to save it by calling her a hooker. She’s gonna love it!_

No, she would kill him. Slowly. _At least I'm getting some, Mr. Blue Balls._

_Not after she sees what you showed me and hears what you said! I may have blue balls, but you’re not going to have any at all after she castrates you. You're an idiot, man._

_You're lucky you're clear across town, otherwise I'd kick your ass, Jake._ Paul couldn't decide if he was really angry or not. This whole stupid conversation was his own fault.

_Pfft. In your dreams. You couldn’t kick my ass if you tried._

Now it was Paul's turn to snicker. _I don't dream about kicking your ass. My dreams are much more entertaining, and they don't center around you._

Jacob teased, _You've got it so bad for Clearwater._

_I do not!_ Paul protested. _It's just that she is, hands-down, the best I've ever had. You'd think about it all the time too if you did what we did._

_Like I said,_ Jacob reiterated. _You've got it bad. That little show you guys put on for Sam today? It wasn’t just for Sam, and it wasn’t just a show._

Paul bristled defensively. _You don’t know what you’re talking about. I just wanted to put that prick in his place._

_Then how come you’re thinking about when you can see her next?_

Paul justified, _Are you not listening? Did you not see what I just showed you? It’s because she’s the hottest chick ever, and it’s the craziest, wildest sex, that's why. It doesn’t mean there’s anything else there. What would you know about it, anyway, virgin? Just because you fall for any girl who blinks at you funny, doesn’t mean the rest of us are so gullible._ But even as he tried to distract Jake from his line of questioning,Paul had to wonder if he was right. What was he really doing with Leah?

X-x-x-x-X

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my beta, Babs81410.


	15. Competition

He rolled onto his back, drawing her up to lie in the crook of his shoulder. He brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead in between puffs of air. Their exertions had winded him. She hummed low, unintelligible sounds of satisfaction in her throat and drew patterns on his chest with her fingertips. He looked past her head through the open curtains and saw the sun rising in the sky. She was still for long enough that he wondered if she had fallen asleep, but her breathing was too uneven. "What're you thinking about?" he asked.

"Punching you where it counts," she answered bluntly.

It was not the answer he expected. "Hey," he protested. "Where'd that come from? I'm pretty sure you liked that. A lot."

"I did. That's the only reason I haven't already, Lahote. I'm not ready to give you up for my vibrator."

He groaned at the thought of Leah pleasuring herself. "Fuck, baby."

"What?"

"You have to show me sometime. I'm begging you."

"Shut up, you pig," she laughed. "I'm trying to scold you."

He still didn't understand why. "What for? What'd I do?"

"It's not what you did. It's what you're going to do. I was just wondering how long it's going to be until Seth sees what we just did."

One corner of his mouth lifted up. "He's just lucky I waited until he left this morning. Your mom, too."

"But can you keep this to yourself? When I was patrolling with Embry last night, he was trying to hide it, but he kept picturing me naked. He kept denying it was me he was thinking about, but hey, moron, I can see. I know what I look like."

"All the guys envision you naked. It's not my fault. He has an active imagination, that boy."

She clarified, "Naked, on all fours, on the floor of that cave, from behind. Pretty sure that wasn't his imagination."

He challenged, "If it was from behind, how'd you know it was you? You can't look at yourself in that position. You don't know what you look like."

Her cheeks burned. She hoped he couldn't tell she was blushing. "For one thing, it wasn't the only position he was imagining. And for another, yes I do, thanks to your memories and stupid wolf ESP."

"Blame Jake, then, not me. He's the one who saw the memory, and he must have showed Embry."

She declared, "That is so not a defense! It's still your fault for showing any of them. Anyway, I got back at both of you by picturing the raunchiest gay porn I could think of and sticking your two heads on the guys' bodies."

"Hmph. Did you at least make me the top? I'm way more manly than Embry, you know. His hair kind of makes him look like a girl. A lesbian, but still."

"Hah! Just for that, next time you show me off that way, I'm making you the bottom, and Sam and Jared get to tag team you. And I'm telling Embry you think he's pretty. Quit it, will you? Or I really will have to unman you."

He shrugged and squeezed her buttocks in his hands. "Empty threat. You're not done with my manhood yet. I can tell."

"Sure of ourselves, aren't we?"

"Can't help it. I'm too sexy, and you're too sexy. Uggo yourself up a little and it'll get better. They'll think about you less if there's less hotness to tempt them."

She snorted at his ridiculous, crude statement. "Uggo? Is that even a word?"

"It is now, because I say it is."

She asked, "How would one go about 'ugging' oneself up?"

"I dunno. Get really fat? Nah, that wouldn't work. You'd still have too cute a face."

"Also not possible, not with our metabolism."

He tried, "Pull out your hair? Not bald, because you could pull that off too. But in patches, like a crazy person. And cover your face in tattoos."

"Ok, I'll try that," she said sarcastically. "Then they'll stop picturing what I look like in the buff?"

"No. They'll just think about what you look like naked and insane. And crazy chicks are supposed to be really good in bed, so that would work against you. You need to cross the line from normal crazy to complete nutbag. Maybe if you took the hair from your head and glued it to your body. And grew out your leg and armpit hair and let your bush go all wild. And painted stripes across your body with clown makeup. Or polka dots."

She shook with mirth and told him, "It would be easier to kill you so that you would stop picturing what I look like in front of the guys. Sam, too. Easier and more satisfying. Seth would help me."

"But then you'd both go to jail, and they have communal showers, so other chicks would be checking you out instead. And some of them would be lesbians, and lesbian felons, and, well, that's just not safe. I think you're better off with us," he pointed out.

"Meh," she said, and yawned hugely.

He shook her playfully. "Babe, it's morning. You're not supposed to be this sleepy."

She glared at him, but it held no real malice. "This is the middle of the night for me. I thought I was going to get some sleep after patrol, not another workout."

"Who cares about sleep when you can be having sex?"

"Is that all you think about?" He heard the smile in her voice.

"You already know the answer to that question. You've been in my brain. You've been yelling at me for that very thing for the past five minutes."

"True. Half, I'd say,” she estimated. “It's at least half of what you think about, if not more."

"Since you've been back? Definitely more. Plus it's less fantasy and more reality."

"Fantasy? I thought you were some kind of man-whore super stud or something. Why would you need to fantasize when you've got so many memories, or were all those 'memories' just dreamed up?"

He snorted. "What do you think? How do you think I learned all my moves?"

"Your moves?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah. You know, the caterpillar, the anaconda, the twist, the double twist, the flip, the windmill, the spaceship, Jack the Ripper, the supernova, the apocalypse..."

She couldn't keep a straight face any longer. She started to giggle helplessly. "Wait, wait. I'm still hung up on the caterpillar. What the fuck is that? That's not sexy. And the apocalypse?"

He pretended to be offended. "If you can't figure it out, I'm not telling you. You should know these things by now. Pay more attention. But my point still stands. Where do you think I learned all that shit?"

"Porn?" she guessed.

He grinned. "I was going to say ‘practice’. And what I meant was that reality doesn’t always live up to fantasy. But I like that you think I fuck like a pornstar."

"You mean, like someone who's performing with a dozen guys standing around watching? Like he doesn't care about whether the girl gets off, so long as she fakes it loudly enough? Like a guy who stops and poses every other minute so the cameraman can get a better angle?"

He glared at her with false consternation. "Wow, someone sure knows how to take the fun out of a good porno. But no. And are you trying to tell me you're faking it? Because if you are, you can lay off a little. There's no reason to pretend you're having ten orgasms per fuck. One or two would be fine, and frankly, more convincing."

"Hah! Ten? Kind of full of ourselves, aren't we?"

"Uh," he rolled his eyes, "that time in the cave? Are you trying to tell me you didn't come, like, a dozen times?"

She admitted, "That was more like one continuous orgasm that just kept going."

Smugly, he answered, "Then I'm counting it as a dozen."

"It counts as one," she countered. "Two at most, since I remember two distinct events."

"You came for like half an hour straight. So I should count it as thirty, probably. Either  way, I'm taking it as compliment, and you can't stop me."

She snickered, "Man, the ego on you..."

He eyed his stiffening shaft. He thought he was spent, but their banter, in combination with the memory they had just resurrected, changed that. "Is that what we're calling him now? The Ego?"

"Actually, that seems pretty appropriate. But does he already have a name?"

"Duh. Hercules, obviously."

She burst out laughing. "You do not call your dick Hercules."

"Are you going to deny that he can perform legendary and near-impossible feats?"

"Legendary? Really?"

"They'll be telling stories of his prowess for centuries."

She giggled again. He would have to harass her about it later, although he secretly loved the sound. "Who? Who will be telling these stories?"

"You and your girlfriends, and their girlfriends, and their daughters, and their daughter's daughters, and their daughter's daughter's daughters, and..."

She slapped him on the arm. "Shut up, you ass."

"Are you denying that I rocked your world?" He wasn't sure what he'd do if she denied it. Prove her wrong, probably.

She picked her head up and grinned at him. Her eyes sparked. "At the risk of swelling your enormous ego until it explodes all over me in a gooey mess, no, I'm not. That was… very well executed."

He smiled back at her. "Glad to be of service."

"But you referred to near-impossible feats. Are you saying it's hard to get me off?"

"No," he admitted. "It is very easy for me to get you off. You are very, uh, responsive."

She wasn't sure how to respond. "Is that a compliment?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "It's fucking awesome. Not sure if that makes it a compliment or not. But I'll take some credit for getting you off. Don't bother trying other dudes. They can't possibly satisfy you the way I can." He wanted to slap himself for his verbal diarrhea. While it was true that he couldn't stand the idea of her with anyone else, he didn't want her to know it. Why was he still talking? "A normal guy couldn't handle you, just like normal girls can't handle the guys in the pack."

Thankfully, she picked up on his latter statement rather than the former. "What are you talking about? You weren't exactly celibate after you phased. Are you admitting that all those girls you claimed to be with were just figments of your imagination?"

"Hardly," he scoffed. "But shifter-on-human sex is lame. I mean, it's better than your right hand, but compared to sex with you? It's like the difference between a fleshlight and a girl. The sensation is good, but it's still a poor imitation."

She ducked her head again, and he thought he caught a glimpse of a blush on her cheeks. "Great. Better than a fleshlight."

"Can you just take the compliment?"

"Thank you?"

He suspected she was wondering how she compared to Emily in bed. He knew for a fact that she was much, much better due to Sam's memories, but he wisely chose to say nothing. "No, thank you."

She eyed the clock on the nightstand. "Aren't you late for something?"

He glanced over. He was already late for school. First period had ended. "All I missed was chemistry. And we just created a lot of chemistry right here." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Oh God, that's terrible. If you start degenerating into bad puns, then this," she gestured between the two of them, "is over."

"No." He confidently shook his head. "You like this too much to give it up." He pointed lewdly at his crotch.

Her eyes followed his pointing finger, and she burst out laughing. "Damn, you're cocky. Literally."

He barked out a laugh in surprise. "Hey, you're the one who said no horrible puns. I think that means I have to break up with you now."

Chuckling, she answered, "I'm pretty sure you're not going to do that. I think I've got a few things you're not ready to give up, either."

He brought her down for a kiss. Then he rolled her over and pawed at her breasts. "You got that right. I totally love these." Her breath hitched at the word "love", but then he lightly slapped her mound, too. She yelped and swung a fist at him for the unexpected assault, but it was easy to block because she wasn't actually mad.

As he pinned her, she started laughing again. "You're such a pig."

"No, baby, I'm the Big Bad Wolf."

"But I'm not Little Red Riding Hood."

"Nah," he agreed. "She gets away from the wolf. I get to eat you, and you're delicious." He descended on her mouth to illustrate.

"Mmm..." When he slid down her body to take her nipple into his mouth, she whimpered, "Don't you have to go?"

"What do you think I want to do more? Go to History or stay here with you?" He switched to her other breast and flicked the nipple with his tongue until it was hard.

She moaned. "You need to go to class."

"If you think I need to go to class more than I need your tight little pussy..."

He nuzzled his cheek against her soft skin and she murmured, "Jesus, you talk dirty."

"You love it," he told her. "And if you think school could pull me away from these magnificent tits, this perfect ass, those sweet lips, you don't know me very well." He rubbed his hard cock against her legs.

She whimpered, "I know you, but I don't. "

He sensed that she wanted to say more, but she remained silent except for panting. "Baby, I just want you so damn bad." He dipped his tongue in her navel.

"God..."

He wondered what her expression looked like, but he was too busy kissing his way down her belly. In between pecks, he prompted, "It's weird. We see into each other's brains, and we know each other's biggest secret, but..."

"We've never really..." She gasped as he kissed her swollen clitoris. Somehow she felt more vulnerable having this non-conversation than she did opening her body to him. He gripped her hands tightly, his arms pinning her legs to the bed.

He thought about it for a moment as he breathed in their combined scents. It was a good a time as any. She was less likely to refuse him when he had her so distracted. He gave her a long, lingering lick and said quietly, "Let's go out."

"Huh?" She tightened her fingers in his and squirmed in an attempt to make him keep going. "Now? Aren't we... Oooh..."

He lapped his tongue against her slowly, and then he stopped abruptly. "Not right now. Later."

"Oh, uh huh. Later." He could tell from her tone that she hadn't actually heard him. She was just parroting what he said.

He swirled her little nub carefully. "That carnival thing is in town. Let's go to that."

"R-really?" What was he talking about? The carnival? It was the last thing she could think about.

"Really." He plunged his tongue inside her, and she bucked her hips into his face.

If the sensation wasn't enough to make her lose her mind, the knowledge that he was tasting himself drove every other thought out of her brain. "Why are you still talking?" she whimpered.

"Come with me," he whispered, and then he delved his tongue into her again.

She struggled to remember what he was talking about. He was driving her to distraction with his talented mouth. It sounded suspiciously like a date, but she couldn't think straight. Was that what he was asking for, or did he just want to go? "Oh, oh, oh!"

"Come with me," he repeated. Then he tilted his head up to vibrate his tongue against her clit, and he let go of one of her hands so he could plunge two fingers inside her.

"Fuck! Paul! I'm coming!"

He smirked against her flesh as he nursed her through a drawn-out orgasm. He didn't care if she was talking about her climax. She agreed to be his date whether or not she knew it. As he sat up on his heels and grabbed her by her round ass to draw her toward him, he knew he was going to miss History, too.

X-x-x-x-X

They didn't know when they could go because Sam had put them opposing schedules. Paul usually patrolled or had school during her off hours. Leah freed up an evening by trading a shift with Jacob. Unbeknownst to her, he wasn't actually planning on making her take his patrol in exchange. He had examined the schedule and realized that she really did have a disproportionate number of shifts, which he hadn't noticed before. He wasn't prepared to confront Sam about it, but at his father's urging, he decided to lighten her load at least a little.

Leah was on the phone with Rachel when Paul arrived to pick her up. The girls had stayed in touch after Leah moved out of their apartment, but between Leah's schedule and the secrets she had to keep, the conversations they managed to have were stilted and rare. She couldn't say what she was really up to, so she said she was working nights instead of telling Rachel about her overnight patrols. She complained about Sam harassing her, but she couldn't explain why they were still in contact. Rachel wanted dirt on Emily and didn't understand why she was accepted in the community, and Leah couldn't come up with an answer. But that night, Leah talked about her upcoming date as if she was a regular girl going out with a regular guy, and for once she felt almost normal. She tried not to think about how rare the feeling was while Rachel teased her about going out with a high schooler. And when Paul knocked on her door, instead of thinking about how pissed off Sam would be when he found out, or the fact that her dad wasn't there to give Paul a hard time, she wondered why she felt nervous. Then Paul grinned at her, and she smiled back, and they went on their way.

They rode the Ferris wheel first, and surprisingly, they didn't make out while they sat in the slow moving car. They were too busy pointing out people they saw on the ground and making fun of them. They agreed that the rickety roller coaster would probably break into pieces, but they rode it four times anyway. They made faces at each other in the fun house mirrors, and Paul got lost trying to find his way out. Leah laughed so hard that she cried as she waited for him by the exit, listening to him curse at his own reflection as he got turned around. He thought it was hysterical when she got off the Tilt-a-Whirl and couldn't stand up straight. He tried to keep her upright, but instead she managed to pull him to the ground. And both of them felt dizzy after getting out of the Gravitron, so they took a break from rides to get a snack. Paul's lips and tongue turned blue from eating snow cones, and Leah somehow managed to get powdered sugar in her hair. They took turns tossing soft pretzel bites into each other's mouths from increasing distances, and by the time they finished they had a small crowd of onlookers cheering them on. Then they set their sights on each other in the bumper cars, and they started bashing each other into the walls.

Afterward they headed for the games. They had avoided the area since Leah swore every one was rigged, but Paul disagreed. He won a panda bear for Leah when he used a heavy mallet to send a puck hurtling at a bell in a strongman game, and Leah surprised the carnie when she won the game as well. She chose a pink unicorn as her prize and gave it to Paul. He claimed that since they had both won the game, the others were winnable as well. She said that normal humans wouldn't have been able to ring the bell, and she stood firm in her claim that the games were all scams. They stood watching the booths in an attempt to prove each other wrong.

For a while, they watched a tiny black-haired girl trying to win a prize by tossing plastic rings over the necks of old fashioned milk bottles. She was determined, but struggling. They watched her for a while until Leah realized that most of the bottles were just a little too wide to accommodate the small rings. It was hard to tell, because once in a while a ring would hit its mark, and it took a very keen eye to distinguish which bottle necks were narrow enough to accommodate a ring. "What a scam! It's one thing to gyp adults out of their money. But I feel bad for her. She's just a kid. I'm going to give my panda to her."

"Hey," he feigned outrage. "I worked hard for that thing. You're just going to give it away?"

She snorted. "Then how about your unicorn?"

He clutched it to his chest with a scowl and said, "No, this is mine. You said it was, and I'm not giving it away. I've got a better idea."

Paul approached the booth and plopped five dollars on the table. He was given five rings, which he fumbled and dropped in exaggerated fashion. The little girl giggled at his antics. Then he pretended that each ring was too heavy to pick up. He feigned a throw that didn't even clear the edge of the table. The child thought it was hilarious. Leah knelt down and whispered to the girl that she should help Paul pick up the fallen ring, and she urged her to kiss one of them for good luck. Paul promptly tossed it onto the neck of a bottle. Leah told the girl to kiss the remaining rings one by one, and Paul carefully aimed each one at one of the few appropriately-sized bottles. Each one hit its mark. The teenaged boy running the booth offered him the option of taking a small prize or paying 5 dollars for five more rings to win a larger one. The child had been eyeing an enormous puppy, so he slapped down ten more dollars. Ten more rings slipped onto the bottles, and Paul came away with the toy, which he promptly handed to the thrilled little girl.

Leah and the girl's family weren't the only ones charmed by the gesture. When Leah stepped away momentarily to buy a snack, a slight blond teenager came up to Paul and touched his arm. "Oh my gosh, that was so sweet. Do you know that little girl?"

Paul blinked at her in surprise. Normally he would have scoped out all the attractive females in a half mile radius, but tonight his focus had been entirely on Leah. "No. She's just some kid."

"Well, I'm sure you just made her night." She felt along his biceps. "Wow. You're really strong."

He wanted to shake her loose, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Leah standing in line at the concession stand. A well-built young man a few years Paul's senior was standing behind her making a bad joke about the food. Paul waited for her to turn around and shoot him down, but instead she just smiled and laughed. In retaliation, he turned and flashed his own flirty grin at the girl hanging on his arm. "Nah. These are just for show. You're probably stronger than me."

"I'm just a twig compared to you! I'll bet you could pick up two of me."

He looked at her appraisingly. She was waifishly slim, with narrow hips, slender limbs, and pale skin. He preferred a curvier, tighter ass and breasts that would fill his hands, and better yet, darker skin, poutier lips, rich brown eyes, and sleek black hair, but this girl had none of these things. Still, he knew that she was conventionally pretty, although standing next to Leah she looked frail and plain. Even though she wasn't really his type, he normally would not turn down the kind of attention she was giving him. He looked over her shoulder at Leah, but he couldn't catch her attention. Her sparkling eyes were locked on the man standing behind her in line. One corner of her mouth tilted up in a beguiling smile. He was talking about his car, of all things. He wanted to take her for a ride in his new convertible. Paul waited for her to shoot him down, but instead, she asked about the car. Paul was floored. He narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw until he realized that the blonde was taking a step back, and he turned his attention back to her. "Two of you? You're so tiny. I could handle at least three or four."

Her smile returned. "I'll just bet you could. Or maybe you're really just a teddy bear underneath this tough-looking exterior."

"You think I look tough? You don't know the half of it."

"Maybe not, but I think I'd like to." Her eyes ran up and down his body, leaving no confusion as to what she was talking about.

He glanced up at Leah. She wasn't even looking at him. She was biting her lip and peering through her thick lashes at the other man, who was still blathering on about his convertible. What was she doing? Weren't they on a date? Why wasn't she as irate about the girl as he was about the loser hitting on her? He wanted a reaction out of her. Could he provoke one?

He looked back down. The girl looked like a child compared to Leah. He wasn't interested in the least, although he might have settled for her had he been alone. But he wasn't, or he wasn't supposed to be. "What's your name, sweetheart?" He figured she was the type of girl who would melt at the flirty moniker.

Her expression confirmed it. "I'm Debbie."

"Very pleased to meet you, Debbie. I'm Paul."

From across the field, he heard the stranger asking Leah for her name and number.

Paul breathed a sigh of relief when Leah just answered, "Who wants to know?"

And he almost laughed when the man introduced himself. "Brock. The name's Brock."

"Nice to meet you, Brock," Leah answered.

Debbie interrupted his eavesdropping by patting the stuffed animals under his other arm. "These are cute. Almost as cute as you. Do they have names?"

"Not yet."

He saw Brock gawking at Leah. He told her, "I'm sorry I keep staring, but you're just so beautiful. I just have to know your name."

She didn't answer directly. With horror, Paul watched her lean forward, take the phone out of his hand, and type something into it with a little smirk. He couldn't believe it. Had she really just done that right in front of him? Didn't she know he was watching? Brock grinned as he took back the phone, confirming Paul's worst suspicion. He was livid.

He turned back to Debbie, trying to keep his eyes off Leah, and said, "Do you want to name them?"

She giggled, "Shouldn't your sister do that? Aren't they hers?"

Paul looked up Leah, who had reached the front of the line and was placing her order. She wasn't looking at him, but he was certain that she could hear every word he said. He had certainly heard her loud and clear, although he wasn't certain what the message was. She didn't want him to go pulverize the guy, did she? Because that was his first instinct. "Who, Leah?" He didn't correct her mistake. He pointed at the unicorn. "This one's mine, and I think you should name her."

She squealed, "Oh, really? I'd love to. I'm really good at this."

Paul wondered if she frequently found herself in a position to bestow names upon stuffed animals. She was as vapid as she looked, wasn't she? "I'll bet you're good at a lot of things." He made sure to pitch his voice low. He had been told on multiple occasions that the tone was very sexy.

"Wouldn't you like to find out?" She licked her lips.

It was just too easy. He did what came naturally. Without thought, he suggested, "Maybe we should get out of here and you can show me." Debbie blushed bright red and pressed her breasts against his arm. The touch brought him back to reality. She wasn't warm enough. She wasn't tall enough. Her skin wasn't soft enough. Her breasts weren't full enough. He regretted his words immediately. What was he doing? He didn't want this girl, not in the least. He wanted Leah. More than that, he wanted her to want him. He wanted her to feel as jealously possessive of him as he was of her, not to drive her away.

But Debbie wanted him. "I would love to. Do you know of somewhere we can go? My parents are home, so we can't go there."

He chanced a look at Leah. She was a glaring daggers at him, finally. He watched for telltale signs that she might phase, but there was no trembling, no clenched fists, and no heavy breathing. Instead, she smoothed her face into a blank mask, and that bothered him even more. But not enough to actually have revenge sex with Debbie. What was he going to do with her? He immediately regretted his words. "Well, I kind of came here with someone..."

"Your sister? Does she have a ride? You can always come with me, and then could she take your car back home. Did you guys drive?"

Paul didn't know what to say. He had no intention of leaving with this girl. All he wanted to do was drag Leah into the woods and show her that she never needed any man but him. He wanted to take her to their little den like a caveman and screw her brains out until she couldn't think of anyone else. They should stay there, just the two of them. The rest of the world could fuck off as far as he was concerned.

But when Leah began to walk towards them, her hips swaying, her delicate hands holding two ice cream cones, her pink tongue lapping at the sweet treat in a way that made his pants tighten, he instinctively moved between her and the girl. Debbie probably wasn't in any physical danger, but he wasn't taking any chances. But Leah handed him one cone, sidestepped him, and extended her hand to Debbie. "Hi. I see you've met my brother."

Paul's jaw dropped. What was she doing? Why was she playing along? What was going on?

Debbie shook her extended hand. "Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Debbie. I was wondering if you guys were twins; you look so alike." Paul almost snorted. His skin was significantly darker than Leah's, his eyes were lighter, and their bone structure looked nothing like each other's. Other than sharing the traits that every Quileute had, they didn't look alike at all.

Leah nodded and plastered a fake smile on her face. "Yeah. We're practically joined at the hip."

Debbie offered, "I saw what you guys did for that little girl. It was really sweet."

"I'm glad we could make her happy," Leah agreed. "Paulie wouldn't give up his unicorn, so that was the next best thing." Abruptly, she looked up and waved, and Paul followed her gaze.

Brock was walking away, but he yelled out, "Bye, Emily! I'll give you a call later!"

Leah grinned. "Good. I'm free on Saturday. Don't keep me waiting!"

"It's a date!" Brock yelled back.

"E-Emily?" Paul stuttered. Then he realized what she was doing. Leah hadn't given the guy her phone number, had she? He felt like an idiot. Worse yet, had he blown his chances with Leah with his little stunt to try to make her jealous?

Debbie peeked at the other man. "Emily, looks like you're making friends, too, huh?"

Leah shrugged. "I do okay, but not like my brother. Paulie's a sucker for a cute girl. Although usually he likes them older than seven."

Debbie laughed. "She's probably got a huge crush on him now."

"He's quite the charmer, isn't he?" Leah asked, not expecting an answer. "Not a lot of girls can resist him."

Debbie giggled, "Certainly not me."

Leah flashed him a look that actually frightened and aroused him all at once, and then responded by sliding her free hand into his back pocket. He froze as she squeezed his ass. "Me neither. He's irresistible."

Debbie gaped at the intimate gesture. "Oh, I... I..."

"We're very close," Leah explained and nuzzled close to Paul. "It's a twin thing."

"Ok. Sure," Debbie said hesitantly.

"It's not possible to be closer than we are. We know everything about each other."

"Um... That's nice? I guess?"

"It's hard for other people to understand what we've got, what we share. Did I hear you say we're getting out of here?" Leah directed the question at Paul.

"Uh..." was all he could manage.

Debbie explained, "We were thinking of maybe sneaking off."

"Oh, where to?" Leah said brightly. "Somewhere more private, I hope."

Debbie's eyes flicked between them. Cautiously, she said, "Well, that was kind of the idea."

"Good. Where are we going?"

"W-we?" Debbie asked.

Leah took a long lick of her ice cream and closed her eyes in satisfaction. "Mmmm..." When she opened her eyes, she looked right at Debbie. "My brother and I share _everything_."

"Everything?" Debbie squeaked.

Leah practically purred. "Yes. We're closer than close, Debbie. Being twins makes us very... intimate. It's a very special relationship." She shot him a glance, and though her voice was a smooth as velvet, there was laughter in her eyes. "Right, Paulie?"

He managed to find his voice and croaked out, "Yeah, special."

If Leah's actions thus far surprised him, what she said next shocked him. She kept her eyes on him and whispered just loud enough to guarantee that Debbie would hear. "I'm so glad you found another girl. I love it when you share me with the guys, but sometimes I need a softer touch."

"I... I..." Debbie started to back away.

"But if you want another guy there, maybe I can find out if my new friend wants to play?" Leah's eyes were dancing with mirth.

Debbie managed, "Um, I don't think..."

"Oh, babe, let me get that for you." Leah took his wrist in his hand and brought it to her lips. He thought she was going to take a lick of his ice cream cone, but instead, she sensuously lapped up a trail of cream that had melted down his hand without him noticing. Paul actually moaned out loud.

Debbie made a choking sound. "I'm, ah, gonna go. I don't think you guys need me."

Leah feigned embarrassment. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I'm being way too forward, aren't I?"

"Oh, that's okay." Debbie was still backing away.

Leah held out a hand to stop her. "No, I'm so sorry. Don't go."

"Well, I think..."

"I was so presumptuous. If you want, Paulie can just watch. He doesn't get the chance to very often, because normally I keep him really busy, and I know he likes to see..."

She didn't bother finishing, because Debbie was already gone. Leah broke down in peals of laughter, clutching at her stomach.

Paul couldn't decide if he was horrified, impressed, or turned on. In reality, he was all three. "What would you have done if she said yes?" he asked.

"She wasn't going to say yes. I knew that before I opened my mouth."

"But what if she had?" he pressed.

She calmed herself and rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't..."

"But if it had?"

She shrugged and began to walk away. "A threesome is never going to happen, Lahote, so just give it up. Or if it is, I'm not into chicks, so you'd have to find a willing guy..."

His eyes glazed over. It was the wrong kind of threesome, and he'd probably end up murdering the other guy if he had to share Leah, but it was still fantasy fodder. By the time he pulled his brain out of the gutter, he realized she was nearly out of sight.

He ran to catch up. "Hey, where you going?"

She took a bite out of her cone and kept walking.

"Seriously, the night's still young."

She tossed a dirty look over her shoulder. "You want some company? Go find Debbie."

"Hey, I don't want Debbie. I want you."

"Didn't much look like it back there. You were halfway into her pants, and I was gone all of, what, five minutes?"

Paul tried, "Look, I'm an idiot."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not arguing."

She sighed. "Look, we're not together or anything." The statement made him queasy. "You don't owe me anything, and I don't expect anything. You're off the hook."

He wanted to protest, to bind them together somehow, but he couldn't find the words. And now wasn't the right time anyway. He settled on, "I owed you a good date."

"Which you were about to ditch me from."

"Honestly," he tried, "I wasn't."

"Could've fooled me," she said flatly. "I heard every word you said."

He insisted, "You know I didn't mean any of it."

"Do I?"

He reminded her, "I can't hide anything from you. You'll see it in my brain. She was nobody. I didn’t want her. Look, I thought you were... with that guy... And I just kind of, well, what I mean is... I was just... I thought..."

She cut off his incoherent rambling. "That you've got shit for brains."

"I thought you were giving him your number, and I kind of saw red," he explained.

"I wasn't giving him my number..."

"I know that now. I get it, but I didn't at the time."

She stopped so abruptly that he nearly ran into her. "How many possessive, irrationally jealous assholes do I need in my life, Paul?"

"I’m not Sam," he insisted.

She resumed walking. "Congratulations. Fuck off."

Normally he would have already given up. Fighting with a girl wasn't worth the trouble to keep her. But this wasn't just some girl. It was Leah. "Yeah, not going to do that. I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not," she answered shortly.

"Yes, I am," he insisted.

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Seriously, don't follow me. You don't need me anyway. Go pick up some chick if you need some attention. You're not getting mine."

"Except I am, right now," he pointed out. He sounded like an ass, and he knew it, but she was still talking to him. "It may not be good attention, but I'm pretty sure I have your undivided attention at this very moment."

"Because you're chasing me!"

He tried a joke. "Well, how do you expect me to kiss your ass if I'm not up really close?" When he saw her trying to hide a smile, he continued, "You gave that dude Emily's number, didn't you? That's brilliant."

Despite how annoyed she was, she answered him. "Even better. I typed in the name Emily Young, but I listed Sam's number."

"Oh my god. That is genius! And he thinks he has a date with you in Saturday? The guy's gonna call for Emily, and Sam is gonna flip!"

"Rachel gave me the idea when I talked to her today." She snickered. "I wasn't planning on actually doing it, but then that guy started hitting on me, and then I saw the ring on his finger..."

"Seriously?"

She nodded. "He was obviously married. So I didn't feel bad taking him down a peg."

"Wow. Two... no, three birds with one stone. Damn. Remind me to stay on your good side."

"If you want to get back on my good side," she pointed out, "you have some grovelling to do."

"Can I expect a similar method of revenge?"

Her smile grew into a grin. "You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

He wondered if she was serious, and he couldn't tell. He steered the conversation away from himself. "I hope I get to see it in Sam's brain."

"Hopefully he doesn't snap or anything. It seems like he's barely hanging by a thread sometimes."

"Sometimes?" he scoffed.

"Okay, all the time.”

He asked, "Did you know he's been freaking out about her too?"

"Emily? Why?"

He explained. "A few times, he went to check on her during patrol and couldn't find her. He kind of panics when it happens."

"Oh, are you serious? When Brock calls, is he going to think... Wow. Well, it wouldn't be the first time. It hadn't occurred to me, seeing as she's his imprint and all..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it honestly never crossed my mind about the two of them, but, let's just say she's not really the monogamous type."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She shook her head. "She's cheated on every boyfriend she's ever had. It's one of the reasons she couldn't hold a relationship together. I'm sure she wouldn't do that to Sam, though."

Paul wasn't. "Why not?"

"Well, she's his imprint, right? Chosen by the spirits? Perfect match?"

"Does she seem perfect to you?"

"Of course not. But I'm probably the wrong person to ask."

He shook his head. "As far as I'm concerned, you're the only one to ask."

She glanced at him, and he thought she didn't look angry anymore. He pushed his luck. "So, seriously. About that girl. What would you have done, really, if she'd said yes?"

She rolled her eyes. "She's not my type, okay?"

"For the record, she's not mine either," he told her.

"I thought anything willing and female was your type,” she bristled.

He grabbed her arm and turned her toward him, but she didn't look up. "You're my type," he told her sincerely. "Just you."

She pulled away and started walking again. "Look, I know we're not together, not really. And that's fine. But I don't share, okay? It's just not me. So we can say we had a good time and part ways now."

He wasn’t sure how serious she was, but it didn’t matter either way. It wasn’t as if he wanted to be shared. "Yeah, that's not happening.”

"Excuse me? Don't make such a big thing out of this, Paul."

"I'm not making a big deal out of anything," he insisted. "But we're not... What was it you said? 'Parting ways'. We're not doing that."

She spun on her heel again, and this time he actually did bump into her. Her eyes were flashing. "Why the hell not?"

"Because I'm not ready to stop,” he growled. Then he realized that words were never his strong suit. He wouldn’t convince her by talking. He roughly yanked her toward him, gripping her hips tightly in her hands, and he kissed her until she forgot she had ever thought about ending things between them.

X-x-x-x-X

 

 

 


	16. Denial

They didn't have to wait very long for the results of Leah's little prank. Paul wanted to wait in the bushes behind Sam's house to witness the fallout directly, but Leah vetoed it on the grounds that Sam's supernatural senses would inevitably discover them, spoiling the fun, not to mention that they had no idea when Brock would call, or if he would at all. Paul assured her that there was no way the married man would pass up an opportunity to "nail a piece of ass as hot as you". Leah took his words as the compliment they were intended to be and convinced him to be patient.

But patience wasn't required. Brock didn't follow the three day rule, the two day rule, or even the one day rule. He contacted "Emily" just hours after meeting her. Better yet, he didn't call. If he had done so, Sam might well have asked enough questions to discover what had really happened before it went any farther. But he didn't. The man's wife was out of town, and he wasn't sure when he would get another opportunity to see the beautiful stranger he had just met. So he sent text after drunken text, each one less tactful than the last.  

The first one read, "Emily, I can't stop thinking about you. Can't wait to see you Saturday". Sam didn't notice the quiet vibration of his phone, which had fallen under his bed.

Immediately after, he followed with, "I want to take you for a ride." Then the battery on Sam's phone died.

"Emily" still didn't respond. Brock drank another two beers and thought he would try flattery. "You're absolutely stunning," he wrote. Sam went to sleep.

Brock didn't take the hint when he didn't hear back. In his inebriation, he thought he should just try harder. He sent another message. "I can't stop thinking about your gorgous eyes and your sexy lips."

He continued throughout the night. "There's something between us. I know it" came next.

When he still hadn't received a reply, he asked, "r u mad at me?" and "Srry if Im being to foward, just cant stop thinking about u".

Neither Sam, Emily, nor Leah answered. So after he finished the last of his whiskey, he tried, "We hav chemistrt. You cant deny it!"

Then he fell asleep on his couch. He had a dream about having sex with the girl he had just met, and when his dog woke him up to be let outside, he thought the dream had been real. He sent a follow up. "cant stop thinking about your tits they taste so food". Then he downed another beer to chase away the headache that was forming in his skull. Right before he passed out again, he thought it would be a good idea to try one more.

So the first thing Sam saw when he woke in the morning and plugged in his phone was a close up of Brock's semi-erect penis.

To make matters worse, Emily was gone for the week, visiting her mother in Neah Bay. Sam's mind whirled with possibilities, each one more gut wrenching than the last. What was she planning on doing with the guy? What had she done already? And who was he?

Sam was livid and horrified. If he had never been suspicious of Emily's behavior before, it wouldn't have been so bad, but this wasn't the first time that Sam had wondered where Emily was and what she was doing. From time to time he would pass by his cabin on patrol, expecting to hear her inside. Usually she was there, but not always. At first this only happened during the day, and it never occurred to him to be suspicious. After all, she wasn't locked inside the house. He assumed she was shopping or running errands. But once in a while she was gone in the middle of the night. He would approach their bedroom window expecting to hear the calming sound of her breathing, but silence greeted him. The first time it happened, he was frantic. He was certain that she had been harmed in some way. He ran into the house fearing he would find a body, but instead found nothing. Then he imagined she had been abducted. Embry, who was patrolling with him, pointed out that her car was gone. She had obviously left. He worried for the entire night, anxiously pacing the border. By the time he returned home in the morning, she was asleep in bed. He nearly collapsed with relief that she was safe.

When Embry later asked where Emily had gone, Sam replied that she had gone out to buy something. He was convinced it was true, but for the life of him, he couldn't actually recall the conversation in which she had reassured him that had happened. Embry asked what she needed in the middle of the night. Sam couldn't remember. He hadn't pressed the issue, and Embry learned not to ask when it happened again. If he did, Sam would get terribly defensive. He seemed incapable of questioning Emily's motives. If she was near, he was completely unable to doubt her. It was only during moments of true solitude that he suspected anything.

On the morning that he received the text messages, he was alone. He reacted without thought. He immediately called the unknown number. A groggy male voice answered, "Emily? 'S that you, baby?"

Sam growled, "If you ever contact my fiancée again, I will tear you limb from limb. No one will even recognize your remains." He began to demand an explanation, but he had terrified the unfortunate fellow, and all he heard after that was a frantic curse and a dial tone. No matter how many times he called after that, he got no answer.

For the rest of the day, he couldn't think straight. He was consumed with jealousy and doubt. He imagined his imprint in the embrace of another man, and it made him nauseous. Then he looked at the explicit photo he had received and thought about Emily inviting such attention. He threw his phone across the room, where it crashed against the wall and split into pieces on the floor. He slid to the ground and buried his head in his hands. He thought of every time he couldn't find her, every time he looked for her but found only an empty house. She had never provided any good explanations of where she had gone. Why hadn't he confronted her directly? Why hadn't he even asked? His mind swam with possibilities. Not for the first time, he wondered why her phone was password-protected with a code he didn't know, and he wanted to know who she was constantly texting when she thought he wasn't paying attention. If he asked, she always had a good explanation: her mother, her sister, or Kim. But he rarely saw the evidence with his own eyes.

He looked at the clock. He was supposed to patrol with Leah in half an hour. His heart began to pound. Leah. His Lee Lee. She had been so good to him. He had loved her so completely, and in these moments when Emily was far away, he knew he still did. She had been so kind, so generous, so giving. He remembered the joy in her eyes when she smiled at him, the clear sound of her laughter. He thought about the passion in her touch, the sweetness of her words. How could he look her in the eye? How could he face the girl who had loved him so well and so purely, knowing he threw her over for an unfaithful, untrustworthy woman? Emily had been willing to betray her own family. Why should she be any more faithful to him than she was to Leah?

He crawled across the floor and picked up the pieces of his phone, but it was broken beyond repair. He dragged himself to the kitchen and started dialing. According to Billy, Jacob wasn't home. He couldn't ask Seth to cover for him; he didn't want to answer any questions from Leah's brother. He knew Jared was supposed to be busy with Kim all day long, not to mention the fact that he would take over in the evening anyway. Paul would jump at the chance to patrol with Leah, but Sam would sooner make her patrol alone than pair them together. That left Embry. He didn't give the boy a chance to refuse. He simply told him that something had come up, and he was needed. Then he hung up before Embry had a chance to protest.

Leah wondered at the change of plans, but Embry didn't know anything. In return, she told him nothing of the little prank she had pulled. Over the past few weeks she had not only gained control over her urge to phase, but she also learned how to filter her thoughts. Unless she was particularly upset, she didn't reveal anything she didn't mean to. Not only did it help her maintain a modicum of privacy in the pack mind, but it spared her brother from seeing images of her and Paul. Paul, too, figured out how to put up a similar filter. He had never cared about his privacy before, but Leah had made it clear that she wouldn't share her body with him if he continued to display her to everyone, and that was more than enough motivation for him to develop self control.

So while Sam was wracked with jealousy, doubt, and guilt, Embry and Leah talked about other things. Although they had initially gotten off on the wrong foot, they were now used to each other. Embry certainly couldn’t complain that she wasn’t pulling her weight in the pack, and she proved herself when she became the only shifter to take a bite out of Victoria. She had earned his respect. They weren’t exactly friends, but they neither were they enemies.

_So you and Paul, huh?_

_I guess so,_ she answered vaguely.

He noted, _I didn't see that coming._

 _Me neither,_ she told him truthfully.

_So what's up exactly? Are you dating?_

She didn't know what to say. After the previous night, she really wasn't sure where they stood, only that it hadn't ended. _Not exactly._

_I never would have pegged you for the kind of girl..._

She cut him off before he could shove his foot farther into his mouth. _Excuse me? What kind of girl?_

_Hey, it's not a judgment! Casual hookups aren't bad or anything. I just wouldn't have guessed you'd be into them, is all._

She admitted, _I did surprise myself there._ After all, before Paul, she had only ever been with Sam, and they had been deeply in love well before they took each other's virginity. Sex without love was a new phenomenon to her.

Embry offered, _You know, I've never seen him this way with a girl before._ Under the surface, she could tell he questioned whether the sex was as emotionless as they claimed.

_What way is that?_

_Well, interested._

Leah was skeptical. _Everyone keeps telling me he was some kind of slut. Either that was all talk, or he was always really, really interested._

_But he was interested in puss... sorry, sex. You know, love 'em and leave 'em. He was interested until he got what he wanted. But after that, like, you could set your watch to it. It was just a matter of time until he dropped them._

_You're not telling me anything I don't already know, Embry. I've seen in his brain just like you have, remember? I don't exactly expect this to last forever._

_It’s already lasted longer than any of his previous flings, though._

_Great,_ she answered sarcastically. _I’ve set a record. Do I get a medal now?_

 _No,_ _but Paul probably has a prize for you._ He snickered, and she could see in his mind what he was referring to.

 _Embry!_ She was surprised at the graphic nature of his joke. He was normally rather shy and reserved. Even when he thought about the way she looked naked or envisioned memories of her and Paul, he usually had the good graces to be embarrassed.

 _Don’t blame me,_ he teased. _It’s your fault anyway. You and Paul are corrupting my innocent mind._

 _Innocent? Hah! You’re a voyeur and a pervert just like all the other guys._ Her tone made it clear that she wasn’t really angry. He couldn’t exactly unsee what he had been shown.

 _If I’m a pervert, you’re a kinky bitch,_ he laughed.

She took it in stride. _You call it kinky, I call it fun. You’re just jealous, anyway._

_Hell yeah I’m jealous! We’re all jealous. I may not have blue balls like Jake and Jared, but my sex life isn’t exactly adventurous._

_What, your hot new shifter body isn't paying off?_

_It is, but not exactly like I might have hoped. I mean, I get attention that I never got before, but it's kind of irritating. If a girl wouldn't give me the time of day a year ago, but now all of a sudden she's into me, how am I supposed to feel? Some of those girls were really bitchy to me. The fact that they think I'm hot now doesn't erase how they used to treat me. I got muscles, not amnesia._

_I totally agree. If they were shallow and mean to you before, you shouldn't give them the time of day now. But not everyone was like that, right?_

He agreed, _That's true. There's a couple girls who were never bitchy or anything. I think they just didn't notice me before._

She said, _But I'm guessing they notice you now._

_Yeah. I've taken them both out, too. It's fun, I guess, but it kind of feels like something's missing. I don't exactly like the fact that they never noticed me. It would be nice to know that they'd still be interested even if I wasn't all ripped. But honestly, I probably wouldn't care about that if we had more chemistry. I don't know. I didn't even really notice it until you and Paul got together, to be honest._

_What do we have to do with anything?_

He uncomfortably admitted, _Well, you've kind of raised the bar. Sex with human girls is just so… tame, I guess. It's a little dull._

_You know, sex isn't actually supposed to be like porn._

_Uh, then what the heck are you and Paul doing? Or even you and Sam, before?_ As soon as the words slipped out, he regretted them. He should have known better than to bring up her ex.

But somehow, thinking about him didn't hurt as much as it once had. Maybe it was because of Paul, or even her brief time with Adetayo and Jonathan, or simply the passage of time, or the nearly unrecognizable creature that Sam had become, but his statement didn't sting like she expected. _There are other girls out there, you know. Just because you don't have a real spark with two of them, doesn't mean that there's no one out there. If this year has taught me anything, it's that there are always more possibilities._

_Sure, but what if I really click with a girl, really fall for her, and then I turn around one day and imprint on someone else? It wouldn't be fair to her or to me._

She sighed _. Sadly, life isn't fair, and that's all there is to it. I am completely convinced of that._

 _I've known that for a long time,_ he agreed. Before he could stop himself, he asked seething he had been wondering for a while. _Do you worry about Paul imprinting on someone? Or that you will?_

 _I don't think I can,_ she admitted. _Sam says imprinting is for reproduction, and that he would have imprinted on me if I could have kids. I didn't think much of it at the time, I mean, but, well..._ She wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell Embry, or how much he wanted to know.

_Yeah, so?_

_I’m not getting cycles. At first I thought it was just because of my birth control shot, but I switched to pills because I didn't want to keep going to a clinic for the shot and have them notice my temperature, and I'm still not getting them._

Embry didn’t really understand what she meant, but he was very uncomfortable talking about her reproductive cycle. _Oh, uh, sorry. But do you really think Sam knows what he's talking about? It's not like anyone really knows why imprinting happens. And he’s not exactly objective about it._

 _Maybe,_ she said. She didn't want to talk about her skepticism over the other prevailing theories, namely, that it was a way to find their soulmates or make a stronger wolf. Sam had changed too much from the person she knew since he had imprinted on Emily, and not for the better. Imprinting may have turned him into Emily's soulmate, but not the other way around.

Embry didn't push her harder on the subject of her ex. But he still wanted to know if she was worried that she might get discarded a second time. _But what about Paul?_

She sighed, _Are the guys placing bets on how long we’ll last yet?_

 _No,_ he said uncomfortably. _But he might…_

 _I know._ She had avoided thinking about it, but she most certainly knew.

 _I mean, he probably won't._ He hurriedly tried to reassure her. _They say it's really rare, after all._ _Plus I don’t think he’d be happy about imprinting whether or not you were in the picture. He’s not exactly interested in commitment._ He paused for a moment. _Although whatever you’ve got going, it seems kind of different for him._

The conversation was venturing far afield from Leah's comfort zone. She usually tried very hard not to think about the kinds of things Embry was suggesting. She evaded, _Everything's different. Everything and everyone._

Embry sensed he wasn't going to get much farther. It had gotten much too personal. He just cautioned, _Just watch out, okay? He isn't exactly relationship material anyway._

 _Who says I'm looking for a relationship?_ she said irritably. After that, Embry was quiet. They spent the rest of the shift carefully avoiding any sensitive topics.

Leah knew it was the height of folly to get involved with another unimprinted shifter, but that hadn't stopped her. After all, she didn't plan on giving him her heart, she was just sharing her body. When she had gotten jealous of Debbie, she revealed more than she meant to. She hadn't planned on any emotional entanglements. After all, she didn't feel ready for a relationship, let alone with a notorious womanizer. If Sam hadn't thrown them together on the night he ordered them to silently fight and then walked away, she doubted that anything would have happened. Paul might have tried something, probably would have hit on her incessantly, but she wouldn't have given in. She wouldn't have recognized it for anything other than meaningless flirting (or sexual harassment), and as far as she could tell, Paul flirted with virtually all females. Her guard was up, her defenses too strong. But he had caught her in a vulnerable moment. If she was less cynical, she might have thought something passed between them that night, but the events of the last year had stripped away her naivety.

But even if she thought she could keep a healthy distance between Paul and herself, she wasn't interested in sharing him, just as she told him. It sounded much too complicated. There was only so much drama she could handle, so much petty jealousy from other women. She had a hard enough time restraining herself around Emily and Sam. If Paul decided to see other women, that was his business. She would stay out of it by staying away from him altogether. It was the closest she would get to asking for a commitment, which was to say, not close at all. She was as prepared for him to walk away as she was to stop, but he didn't seem ready to give her up. She certainly enjoyed his extensive skill set, so for now they would continue whatever it was they were doing.

She just had no idea what that was.

X-x-x-x-X

After making Embry cover him, Sam didn't show up for his shift the next day. He made Jacob work an extra eight hours, and Seth four more. That was when Paul and Leah figured out that Sam had probably heard from Brock. Paul was tempted to tell him what had really happened just to see the look on his face, but Leah wanted to let things play out. No one else knew what had happened, although everyone wondered, particularly because they had no interest in taking extra patrols without a good explanation. Sam's cell phone went straight to voicemail, and he wasn't picking up his home phone either. Jacob finally decided to check on him personally. When he went to the cabin, no one answered the door. Worried, he went inside using the spare key under the floor mat.

There was no acrid scent of vampire and no trace of blood, which slightly alleviated Jacob's fear, but the place was in a state of disarray. Empty bottles of beer sat on the floor, and the coffee table was strewn with boxes and photographs. Jacob passed them by to look in the kitchen. Dirty dishes sat untended in the sink. Two pots remained on the stove, pasta and sauce congealing and uncovered. An odd collection of items covered the kitchen table, but Jacob didn't look too closely. He went into the bedroom. It was a mess. The bed was unmade. The closet door was open, and boxes had been removed from the shelves and were sitting open on the floor. Three dresser drawers were pulled out, the clothes inside them jumbled about. The pieces of Sam's cell phone were next to the wastebasket, not inside it. A laptop was open in the center of the bed, a flash drive sitting in the port, but when Jacob examined it, he couldn't get past the password screen. He peeked outside to the carport. Both cars were gone.

They later found out that Sam had gone to Neah Bay. He had to know one way or another whether Emily was cheating on him. He hoped to find her at her mother's house. It wouldn't prove that she had been faithful, but if she remained with her family on Saturday, at least he would know that she wasn't meeting the other man. Of course, that wouldn't tell him how Emily had met him. It couldn't undo whatever had already transpired. And Sam was convinced that something had already happened. After all, one of the text messages had referred to the way Emily tasted. She must have already slept with him. Although Sam wished for some proof of her fidelity, the best that he hoped for was that he might catch her in the act. Ironically, had he only kept his patrol with Leah, he would have figured out what had actually happened. Instead, he went chasing after his fiancée.

He didn't find her. Her car wasn't in the driveway of her mother's house, nor her sister's. He was too angry and embarrassed to talk to them, so instead he went driving around, hoping to catch sight of her. He found her scent at the reservation's general store and two of its restaurants, but he had no idea where she actually was at that moment. He lurked about the area until he started drawing suspicious looks, and then he turned for home empty-handed.

He arrived well after dark. Jacob had left him a note asking if he was alright and telling him to call, but he was too humiliated. It was embarrassing enough that Jacob had seen the state in which he left his house. He sighed heavily and began to pick up beer bottles for recycling. When that was done, he threw away the old food spoiling on his stove, and he washed all the dishes. But when he went to put away all the things that he had left on the kitchen table and the coffee table, he couldn't immediately do it. It was too painful. In his desperation, he had torn apart the house looking for evidence of Emily's unfaithfulness. What he found instead were mementos their relationship, and with them, the remnants of his love for Leah. Emily thought she had gotten rid of everything, but she didn't know where all of it was. Much of it she never even recognized as significant. There was the deflated football that he and Leah used to play catch. The souvenir glass tumbler from a trip to Seattle. A pen with a mangled cap that Leah used to bite. A threadbare cotton T-shirt that once belonged to him, which Leah had appropriated as sleepwear.

And then there were the pictures. Emily had thrown out most of the photos of Leah, but she didn't find all of them. She had even deliberately kept one of the three of them. It was old. He and Leah had been six and Emily seven. Sam was in the middle, one arm thrown over each girl. All three of them were grinning at the camera, and he and Leah were both missing a front tooth. He smiled. Leah was wearing a bright blue dress with a white ribbon around the waist. He had thought she looked like a princess when she wore it. Even then he had thought she was the prettiest girl in the world. Sam neatly put away all the pictures of himself and Emily, and he set aside all the pictures of Leah. He tucked them in the glove compartment of his truck, where he hoped Emily wouldn't find them. Then he went inside and turned his laptop back on, and he poured over the old photos stored on the flash drive, the digital ones that Emily didn't know he had saved.

She was still there. She was everywhere, and no matter how hard Emily tried to scrub the house clean of her, she would never succeed. Even if she burned down the building, Leah had been a part of him well before she had come along. The imprint had tried its best to erase her, but it was impossible.

His anger was fresh and hot as he thought about the life he had intended to live. He had had so many dreams, so many plans. All were destroyed in the moment he looked into Emily's eyes. In his lucid moments, he knew that the loss had been immense. Immeasurable. But then his brain would fog, and he believed it was all worth it. He thought that what he had gained in Emily was a blessing that far outweighed everything else. But now she was far away, and the distance cleared his mind. When she returned, would she bring the numbing, blinding mist with her? He feared he wouldn't even remember why he was angry when he saw her again. He worried that he would lose the words to question her and the will to respect himself. The imprint would empty him, leaving him to be a vessel into which she could pour her fantasies and desires. He could already feel himself draining away, but he had no idea how to stop it.

X-x-x-x-X

While Sam despaired over his abandoned past and lost future, Leah contemplated her present. Her conversation with Embry had highlighted concerns that she had been ignoring ever since she woke up in Paul's bed for the first time. What was she doing with him, really? She meant it when she told Embry she wasn't looking for a relationship, quite the opposite in fact. And she really was prepared to walk away when she overheard him making plans with Debbie, and she didn't plan to look back. She couldn't pretend that it didn't hurt, but she chalked up her emotions to wounded pride and irritation at his blatant rudeness. It wasn't real jealousy, was it? Because he wasn't hers, just as she didn't belong to him. She grew frustrated because she couldn't put it out of her mind, so she finally called Rachel. Her friend had a real talent for making her feel better and putting everything into perspective.

"Hey babe, is that really you? You haven't called me in forever! I'm starting to think you don't love me anymore," Rachel cried happily.

Leah smiled at the sound of her voice. "Sorry, I suck. I promise I'm not ignoring your calls. My schedule is just all screwed up working nights."

"I thought maybe you fell into a black hole or something."

"No, although it kind of feels like I did sometimes. You know La Push. It's like it's in its own little bubble." She wished she could say what she really meant. This was the closest she could come.

"Oh, you don't need to tell me that," Rachel agreed. "Not that I don't like the Rez, but..."

"You're just in love with college, that's all."

Rachel agreed, "I really am, aren't I? But I miss you. When are you coming back?"

"I wish I knew. It's not cheap, you know, and they kind of need me here," Leah sighed. She was using the financial strain of her father's death as her excuse to stay, which wasn't entirely false. Rachel thought she was helping her mother pay the bills by staying at home and working. If only she was actually allowed to get a job.

Rachel asked, "Do you like the work at least? You don't talk about it much, not like the job you had here."

"Oh, you know," answered Leah vaguely. "Work is work."

"How are the other people on your shift? Do you like them?"

Leah answered honestly, "Some better than others. But they kind of had their established cliques when I got here. It's taken a while to get in with them."

"What, like high school bullshit?"

Leah snorted at the accuracy of the statement. Almost everyone in the pack really was still in high school, and they acted like it. "Exactly like that."

"Ugh. Like you need more drama in your life. Is that bitch at least staying out of your way?"

"Yes and no," Leah answered. "I mean, I avoid her as much as possible, but this is a small place, right? And I'm pretty sure she goes way out of her way to rub Sam in my face whenever she gets the chance."

"Petty little whore," Rachel spat. "God, I hope karma is real. She needs to be taken down a peg."

"Well," Leah grinned, "I decided not to wait for karma. You know that little suggestion you made?"

"What, her name and Sam's number? You didn't!" Rachel gasped.

"I so did! I wasn't planning on it, but Paul and I were at this carnival fair thing, and this married guy starts hitting on me the second I step away from Paul, so..."

Rachel squealed. "Oh, yes! I was totally joking, but that is awesome! You rock! And he was married? That's so perfect!"

"That, or he was wearing a ring on his left hand for no reason."

"So what happened? Did Sam lose his shit?"

Leah admitted, "I don't actually know yet. I didn't realize it at the time, but Emily's actually out of town for a little while."

"Crap! So it looks like she's off meeting this guy?"

"I think so. I hope so," Leah laughed.

"That is so perfect! Man, I wish you could videotape it. I hope that cheating asshole totally loses it. She is such a slut!"

"How did I never see that?" Leah asked. "I mean, I look back, and in hindsight, she was awful."

She could hear Rachel pacing back and forth on the other end of the line. "She was like a model of what not to do. Do you remember that time she tried to use us as an excuse to her parents when she was sneaking off with that biker from Spokane?"

"Yeah. He was such a creep, too."

"And she was totally still with that guy... What was his name? He sounded really sweet."

"Rob." Leah remembered him clearly. "He was really nice. Cute, too. I met him a bunch of times, and he was totally smitten with her. Although come to think of it, there was a lot of overlap with him and the guy who came before him, too. I can't remember the other guy's name... But I know she told Rob that he was really special."

With finality, Rachel repeated. "Slut, just like I said. I mean, I've got no issue with sleeping around. For all I know, my number's as high as hers. But I have the decency to be straightforward about it. If it's a hookup, I call it a hookup, and if a guy thinks we're together, I make sure to dump him before moving on to the next."

"You're breaking hearts left and right, Rachel."

"I'm honest, is what I am. But what about you? You're still seeing that kid, huh?"

"Yeah, about that..."

"Ooh. This sounds juicy. Spill."

"I just..." Leah didn't know how to verbalize what she felt. "I don't know what we're doing."

"What do you mean? Unless you were lying before, I'm pretty sure you're screwing like bunnies."

Leah snorted. "Yeah. But besides that. I thought it was just a bunch of screwing around, but the other night when we were in bed, I think he asked me out."

"Asked you out? Like a date, right?"

"I wasn't sure at the time. I was, uh, distracted."

Rachel giggled helplessly. "Oh man, you had sex-brain, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I did. So I said yes without thinking. And that's why we went to the carnival."

"How was it?"

"Good. Great, actually, which kind of shocked me. It was just fun and easy. Talking was easy, not talking was easy. He's funny and sarcastic and there's way more to him that I'd have guessed. Turns out he's really smart. Who knew? Honestly I can't remember the last time I had such a good time. Until he got jealous when that married dude was hitting on me, despite the fact that some little blonde girl was hitting on him at the same time."

"What happened?" Rachel asked.

"Fucker asked her out right in front of me!"

Rachel was incredulous. It was no secret that Paul had been trying to get a date with Leah for the duration of his adolescence. She had a hard time believing he would change his mind so abruptly. "For real? Are you sure he wasn't trying to make you jealous?"

"Well, that's pretty much exactly what he said he was doing."

"I believe it. He's an idiot, remember."

Leah laughed. "True, true."

"He's a boy, and boy's are idiots, and I thought you didn't want to date him anyway?"

"I didn't even think it was an option. It didn't occur to me, and I certainly didn't think he was looking for a girlfriend."

"We're still talking about Paul, right?" Rachel clarified.

Leah frowned. "Yeah, of course. I don't have dozens of men following me around, you know."

"Just one nipping at your heels, panting after you like he's been doing since elementary school."

"It was just a schoolboy crush," Leah explained.

Rachel pointed out, "Turned into a hot affair. Plus he's still a schoolboy."

"Oh my god. I'm such a cradle robber. But it's not an affair," Leah protested, although she didn't really know what an affair would look like.

"Sounds like one to me. Sounds to me like you're his fantasy come to life, and he's trying to figure out what to do with you now that he's got you. You know, like what would a dog chasing a car do with it if he ever caught one? Paul's like that. He's a moron, so he does something stupid."

Leah snickered, but then said doubtfully, "I don't think I'm any fantasy, Rach. I'm just me."

"To you, maybe, and to me. But you do remember the enormous crush he's had on you forever, right?"

"He's a man-whore, Rach. He'll screw anything that's willing."

"Has he been with anyone else since he's been with you?"

"Well, no." Leah didn't even have to guess. He had some control over his thoughts now, but there was no way he would be able to keep knowledge of another woman out of his brain when he phased.

Rachel said triumphantly, "Hah. See? I'll bet he's totally in love with you."

"He doesn't do that," Leah said. "Not with anybody. He's had plenty of girls, but never a girlfriend even."

"Until you," Rachel pointed out.

"We're not together like that! We're not in a relationship!"

"Right," Rachel said sarcastically. "You're just going on dates, screwing like mad, and not seeing other people at all. That doesn’t sound like a relationship whatsoever."

"Ugh. What am I doing?"

Rachel laughed. "Dating a child! That's what you're doing. You said you went to the carnival with him? What are you, like twelve? Or is that just his age?"

"Shut up," Leah answered, but she was giggling as she talked. "Don't judge me."

"Is he even legal?"

"Oh, ew, Rach. I'm not some kind of perv! He's nineteen, and he looks older than I do."

"Does not," Rachel denied. "I require proof."

"Trust me," Leah said. "He doesn't look like a kid. Doesn't act like one either. Not in bed, anyway..."

"Pedo!" Rachel yelled.

Leah burst into laughter. "I am not!"

"Babe, I remember that kid. He used to follow you around like a puppy. He looked like a little kid because he was a little kid. I mean, I get that the worship must be kind of nice, but..."

Just to shut her up, Leah interrupted, "Fine. I'll prove it to you. I'm sending you a pic..." She forwarded the only picture she had of her and Paul. He had snapped the closeup while she was asleep, curled into his neck, and he was flashing his bedroom eyes and lazy grin at the lens. Just enough of his chest was visible to showcase his built upper body.

"I'm not getting anything... Oh, wait... Whoa!"

Leah insisted, "Not a pedo, okay?"

"You're telling me! Dear lord, that is a man!"

"I told you!"

"He is a damn hottie! When the hell did that happen?"

Leah pointed out, "You haven't seen him for years."

"True, but come on. I'm having a hot flash over here! Someone dump a bucket of ice water over me!"

Leah giggled, "Oh, now you're just being silly."

"Well, yeah, but sweetie, you upgraded! Sam's handsome and all, but your new boyfriend is, like a male model or something. He's almost better looking than you! Put a ring on it!"

Now Leah started laughing hard. "Oh, please. Maybe, maybe we're dating. That's all. It's not like I've fallen for him."

Rachel's snickering quieted. "Really?"

"Of course!"

"Leah, I'm going to be serious for a second. For real. I'm pretty sure you're falling for him, babe."

"...What?"

Rachel repeated. "I'm kind of talking out of my ass about him. I mean, I haven't seen the guy in years, when he was just your shadow. But I'd bet cash that he's really into you, and not just for the sex. And I know you even if I don't know him. You're into him, too, and it's definitely not just about the sex for you."

"Yes it is," Leah answered feebly.

"Okay, that's fine. Just watch out, okay?" Rachel urged. "You're not a casual hookup kind of girl, remember? Sex means something to you. And he sounds like he's a casual hookup guy all the way, except he's actually asking to date you, he gets jealous when another guy looks your way, and, oh yeah, he's been crushing on you since he was a little kid. I'm pretty sure you're falling for him, and he's probably falling for you too."

Leah couldn't come up with a proper response. Was Rachel right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Babs81410.


	17. Labels

Paul was beginning to regret that they had never labeled what they were doing. He wanted reassurance that Leah wouldn't see other people. He was sure she wasn't interested in the married man who had hit on her, but she was a beautiful woman, a hardworking, intelligent nurse, and a witty conversationalist, and other men surely must find her as compelling as he did. Other than her irritable declaration that she didn't share, she hadn't asked him for faithfulness or fidelity, and he hadn't offered them. Instead he had given them to her unwittingly. He had completely lost the desire to be with other women. He realized that when he eyed other girls, instead of lusting after them, he compared them to Leah and found them lacking. So he did not pursue them, and when they approached him, he declined. The only time he had returned their attentions, he was purposefully trying to make her jealous. She never admitted it, but it worked. Paul could tell, and it puffed him up with pride. But he would be careful never to cross a line again; he wouldn't risk the chance that she might walk away for good. He had panicked when she walked away after his flirtation with Debbie. And he never forgot that she was even more appealing to men than he was to women. If he didn't keep her attention, someone else would steal it away.

For once he felt out of his depth. He wasn't used to the ongoing pursuit of a woman. Normally, all the fun was in the chase. Once he caught a girl and bedded her, there was no challenge left, nothing else to look forward to. The next pretty thing to catch his eye would quickly distract him.

With Leah, something else was happening. Paul didn't admit to anyone, even to himself, that he had any real feelings for her, but he was drawn to her like a magnet. He claimed an addiction to her body, and he reveled in disobeying Sam's instructions whenever possible, in flaunting his insolent behavior. He saw himself as a rebel against unjust authority, not some lovelorn teenager. He didn't call her his girlfriend, but he snuck into her bed at any opportunity, or invited her into his, or found a secluded spot in the woods where they would not be disturbed. He learned the secrets of her body. He knew exactly what to do to turn her on, make her moan, or how to torture her by keeping her right on the edge. He wanted her to crave him as much as he had come to desire her. It was a phenomenon that was new to him, because he had never continued to want a woman in this way after he had had her. Perhaps it was due to her unmatched sexual skills, perhaps it was because her wit matched her beauty, perhaps it was just because Sam hated it so much, or perhaps she possessed some animal pheromone that he found captivating. Whatever it was, he couldn't get enough. Neither could she.

As he learned her body, he had inadvertently gotten to know her heart and her mind as well. Their meetings began in one of two ways. Either they met for the express purpose of having sex, or they argued about everything and nothing until their anger morphed into sexual energy. As their visits became more frequent, they had lingered. They had started to talk. While she lay in the crook of his arm and he drew patterns in the sweat cooling in the small of her back, he would mention some foolish thing that one of their brothers had done, or she would talk about Seth. They complained to each other about the strange coven of vampires who had taken residence near their home, or speculate about what was wrong with Bella Swan. They told each other about the wild rumors that followed the pack, and she would pretend not to care. She might ask him about school, or he would wonder aloud when she might be able to finish her nursing degree. He would ask after her mother, and she would ask whether he had seen his father that week.

In doing so, he had learned more about her than he had about any other girl he had ever been with. He knew she loved her brother, was fiercely protective of him, and missed how close they had been before their lives were overturned. He found out that Sue was taking solace in a fledgling relationship with Charlie Swan. He knew she missed nursing terribly, not just because of the paycheck, the independence it earned her, or the sense of accomplishment from helping others, but also the everyday interactions that she cherished. He realized that she didn't just love her father, didn't just admire him, but as she grew up she considered him a true friend, and she missed her friend as much as she mourned the man she had idolized. To make matters worse, she was angry with him for withholding the truth about Sam, and she wished he had warned her about what might happen to her and to Seth. She didn't know what to do with her anger since it was mixed with grief. She felt oddly guilty, as if she should forgive his transgressions now that he was gone, but her anger had no outlet.

In turn, he shared things with her that he had never shared with anyone. Some of it was involuntary; he was learning to filter his thoughts from the pack mind, but by no means was it perfect. She discovered that despite his absenteeism, he still passed all his classes so long as he showed up for the tests, because he was much smarter than anyone gave him credit for. She knew he loved physics but had no idea how to turn it into a real job. She knew that his father had completely moved out of their house and in with his new girlfriend. She knew that his mother hadn't tried to contact him in three years, which was the last time he received a birthday card from her. The year before that he had received an actual gift, a sweater three sizes too small. He wished she had sent nothing at all. It would have been more honest than feeble gestures. Leah knew him well enough not to offer him pity, but to agree that he was better off without her. She knew he wondered if she was dead. She didn't press him when he referred to his mother's addictions. Instead she commented that addiction was a terrible disease, but that didn't absolve its sufferers from personal responsibility. He quietly agreed, and she didn't offer empty words of platitude when he wondered to himself if everyone he loved would leave him. But since she knew that he liked it when she slept in his bed, she often waited for him in it when he came home after patrol.

Still, they disagreed about many things, and neither hesitated to share their opinions. Paul liked being a shifter much more than Leah did. There were several advantages, but he found them more apparent. He thought their halted aging process was a good thing; it lent them all kinds of possibilities. She, however, felt frozen in time, like the world was moving past her while she stayed still. He loved their invulnerability and reveled in its power. She wished for a life that wasn't dangerous enough to require such traits. They also had opposing opinions on their elevated temperature. He was perfectly happy to go shirtless and show off his physique, while she felt conspicuously underdressed if she wore comfortable clothing. As far as he was concerned, the less clothing she wore, the better. They both agreed that his shifter body suited him well, but she didn't feel that her added height or strength was good for anything other than for killing vampires. Paul disagreed vehemently. Her looks weren't diminished in the least; in fact, the opposite was true, and better yet, he loved that he didn't have to be careful with her. She didn't feel like she was going to snap under his hands. He had been with other girls before sleeping with her but after he phased, and he always had to hold himself back. In addition to limiting himself to careful, deliberate movements for fear of hurting them, with other girls he was never able to continue as long as he wanted. One of his favorite but most frustrating new traits was a remarkably high libido and stamina. Human girls simply couldn't keep up. With her there was no such concern.

In fact, her drive matched his. It was one of her unspoken frustrations prior to their first encounter. She had had no outlet for her sexual energy. So when Paul took her to his bed, he unknowingly soothed an ache that had been gnawing at her. Her body's need drove her to continue accepting his advances despite her reservations. But rather than sating her appetite, it only whetted it. For him it was the same. They craved one another. Soon she was seeking him out as often as he did her. Their couplings were wild and unrestrained, and they could go on for hours.

Of course, the new sexual side to their relationship didn't change their personalities. He didn't bring her flowers or start opening doors for her. She didn't moon over him or daydream about a wedding. If he said something to anger her, she didn't politely hold back. She argued with him, and he harangued her just to see the fire in her eyes. She accused him of being belligerent, but he said it was just foreplay. After all, their encounters almost always ended in sweat and tangled limbs.

It was during such an exchange that he finally blurted out what he had been subconsciously thinking about for weeks. He had just finished an early afternoon patrol and was returning to his house. In three hours Leah was supposed to start her shift. He hoped to find her waiting for him. She hadn't made any particular promise to come but was doing so more and more. It kept Seth from overhearing them, sparing all of them embarrassment, and helped Leah avoid exchanging awkward looks with her mother.

When he entered the house, he grinned to himself. He could smell her. But instead of greeting him with a slow smile and a burning kiss, she was quiet, her breathing even and slow. She was asleep in his bed. He knew how exhausting the continuous, repetitive running could be, and that she needed time to recover. He ought to let her rest. But it was more fun when she was awake. He fixed himself a snack, and he deliberately let the cabinets fall shut with loud clunks to see if she would stir, but she did not. He sighed and stuffed handfuls of chips into his mouth to settle the grumbling in his stomach, then he pulled pasta, milk, and cheddar out to make macaroni and cheese. She had a weakness for it, and she liked his recipe. She was shocked when she realized he could cook. He had learned out of necessity; if he wanted to eat anything other than frozen dinners and fast food, he needed to make it himself. At one point he had found cooking a chore, but it was nice to share the results with someone. Certainly he preferred eating with her over eating alone.

While it baked, he showered. By the time he finished, she still hadn't stirred. Wearing a towel, he entered his room to get clean clothes. He didn't plan on waking her, though he hoped she might open her eyes on her own. But when he caught sight of her, he involuntarily froze. She lay on her back with one arm thrown over her head, her lips were parted, and the sheet sat low on her chest, baring one breast. She was nude.

He couldn't resist. He sat on the edge of the mattress and pulled the fabric down to her feet and unabashedly stared. She was so beautiful. The lines of her body were long and lithe but still sensually curved. Sunlight filtered through the curtains, making her skin glow. For a second, he indulged his younger self, the boy who had watched her for so long. Though they had been together many times, even now he could hardly believe that the fantasy had come to life. Somehow she was real, and she was here in his bed.

He knew he shouldn't wake her, but he couldn't resist touching her. At first his caress was light, barely perceptible. When she didn't stir, his fingers began to roam. They wandered across intimate territory and mapped delicate paths across her soft flesh. They crept up lovely curves, slid down tempting valleys, and explored hidden places. She shifted slightly but did not wake.

At the first touch of his tongue, she sighed. He looked up, but her eyes were still closed, and her breathing evened again. It encouraged him to continue. She was warm, soft, and the perfect blend of salty and sweet. He heard a groan and realized that it was his. Then her voice whispered his name. It was barely audible yet unmistakable. He continued as she mumbled something incoherent. When he realized she was dreaming about him, something unknown and powerful swelled within him. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard her say, "please." She didn't need to be any more explicit. He knew exactly what she was dreaming about, what she wanted, because it was exactly what he wanted as well. He immersed himself in her.

By the time she was fully awake, he was inside her. He recognized the moment she realized he was real. She let out a sultry groan, and then her lips turned up in a gorgeous smile, and his heart skipped embarrassingly at the sight. This time when she said his name she sounded so happy to see him. He found himself grinning back at her as they moved together effortlessly. The look in her eye as she stared up at him, the trembling of her lip as she gasped, the furrow of her brow, these things enraptured him as much as her beauty did.

"Leah." He kissed her.

"Paul." She kissed him back.

They spoke no other words. They communicated only with touch, with minute changes of expression, with wordless sounds. The hint of his smile. The seductive way she licked her lips. A crinkle at the corners of his eyes. The reflecting gleam in hers. The weave of his fingers with her own. The tightening of her grip against his. The soft nuzzling of his nose at her throat. The fullness of her lips against his. A soft chuckle from his throat. A deep hum from hers. A hitch in his breathing. A quiet gasp of her breath. The gentle way she traced her fingers up his spine. The deliberateness with which he tucked her hair behind her ear. A subtle widening of her eyes.

And then, waves of movement. Her head falling back on a groan. His arms tightening around her. Her nails digging into his back. His hips snapping. Her back arching. His strength overpowering. Her limbs locking him in place. His teeth biting. Her fist tugging at his hair. His pace frantic. Her response a mirror.

Together they rose, and blissfully they fell.

After, she began to laugh. He rolled over, drawing her onto him. "What's so funny?" He meant to sound annoyed, but he was too satisfied.

"Nothing. I'm just happy, is all."

He grinned and pressed a kiss onto her hair. "Me too."

"That was a nice way to wake up."

"I can make it happen more often."

She snuggled into his chest. "Because you're so generous, right?"

"I'm just a giving kind of guy. I could make sure you wake up every morning and fall asleep every night just like that." And two or three more times in between, he thought.

She sighed contentedly. "Seth might not be so happy if we do that."

Without thought, he blurted out, "Then you should just stay here all the time. We wouldn't bother him a bit."

"Just move in, huh?" Her tone was casual.

So was his, but maybe it shouldn't be. "Yeah. Why not?"

She paused. She stopped moving altogether, trying to figure out how serious he was. "Uh, because?" she offered lamely.

"Because... You can't think of any reasons why not, and neither can I." That wasn't true. She could probably think of a few dozen reasons why she shouldn't move in with him. He couldn't think of any, not good ones anyway. "That means you should."

"...Are you serious?"

Nervously, he parroted, "Are you?"

"Am I... Wait, what?" Now she was confused, and she was getting irritated too.

He barreled ahead clumsily. "It's a good idea. Actually, it's a great idea. We should totally do it. This twin bed is too small, but it's not like my dad is using his queen. We can move in there, or we could push another twin up against this one and stay in here. I kind of like my room because, you know, it's my room. Might be kind of weird to sleep in his. Plus it kind of smells like cigars in there, and…"

She finally interrupted his absurd babbling. Thank god she stopped his verbal diarrhea. "What the fuck are you talking about, Paul?"

He reacted defensively. "Uh, haven't you been listening?" He kind of wanted to punch himself in the head. There was no way this could be any less smooth. Of course, if it worked, he would play it off like that was how he planned it all along. His idiocy was endearing, right? She probably thought so, at least a little, or else she wouldn't have stuck around so long``.

Indignantly, she yelled, "I'm listening, but nothing you're saying makes any sense. Are you seriously suggesting that I move in here with you?"

He figured he had gotten pretty far up by just blurting out whatever came to his mind. It had worked out so far. And it wasn't as if he had any other, better ideas. "Duh, what does it sound like?"

He braced himself for a slap, but none was forthcoming. Instead she snorted. "Yeah. It sounds like you've lost your mind."

"No, I haven't," he insisted indignantly. As poor as his execution was, he was pretty sure it was the best idea he had ever had. "It would be awesome!"

He could practically hear her rolling her eyes. His argument wasn't exactly convincing. "I think you're skipping some steps there. We've been on exactly one date during which you asked out another girl. I don't think we're quite there yet, huh? Or are you suggesting that we do some kind of roommates with benefits kind of thing?"

"Screw that," he exclaimed. "That makes it sound like you might have other guys over here too, and any guy who comes over here looking to get into your pants is looking to die, and human bodies are way harder to get rid of than vampire ones."

"So what?" Now she was really mad. "You get to screw around with whomever you want, and I get to listen through the wall? No thank you."

"What? I didn't say that. I told you the other night that all I want is you. Stop putting stupid words in my mouth!"

"I'll stop putting words in your mouth when you start saying things that make sense! You're being as clear as mud. You're babbling nonsense about me moving in with you, and we're not even together!"

"But we should be!" he yelled back. "We should be together, and you should be my girlfriend, and you should move in with me. Hah! How was that for clarity!" Then he closed his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut. He was terrified that if he kept talking, something even worse would come out. He was such an idiot. The only way he could have screwed that up more was if he punched her in the throat while proposing marriage out of the blue.

He felt her lift off him. At first he thought she was storming off, but she was still in bed. He was too afraid to open his eyes and look at her expression. He burned with embarrassment. Then he tried to carefully shift his hand to protect his vulnerable naked parts. She was probably about to castrate him. The bed started to shake.

He opened one eye just enough to see her sitting on her heels. She was giggling uncontrollably, making her breasts quiver. He locked onto them like a homing missile, both eyes wide open. She inevitably noticed and started laughing out loud. "You idiot."

"Eh," he shrugged. "It was worth a shot. Plus, you're naked, laughing in my bed, and I still have both my balls. So it's not a complete loss."

"Who said it was a loss at all?" she asked.

He tore his eyes away from her chest. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me. Oh wait. Subtlety escapes you entirely. I'm saying yes, assuming you were really asking."

"Fuck yeah, I was really asking!" He reached out and grabbed her by the waist, dragging her back down to him.

"You're a real Casanova, you know that?" she said sarcastically.

"Casanova ain't got nothin' on me," he bragged before kissing her.

She snorted, "In your dreams."

"Excuse me." He looked indignant. "Are you, or are you not here, naked, in my bed right now, having received a thorough and very satisfying fucking?"

She admitted reluctantly, "I suppose I am. But that doesn't make you Casanova. I think it just means that I'm as stupid as you are." She covered her face with her hands and moaned into them, "Oh my God. What am I thinking? An hour ago I wasn't even sure if we were actually dating."

“An hour ago you were asleep,” he pointed out.

“Shut up,” she muttered.

“Nah. I’m enjoying myself too much. This is too much fun.”

Although she didn’t expect a response, she asked, “What on earth are we doing?”

“What do you think? When's the last time you went on a date with another guy?"

She parted her fingers and peeked at him. "You know the answer to that. It was before I came back home. So what?"

"When do you think I went on my last date with someone who wasn't you? Or hooked up or anything?" When she didn't answer, he pointed out, "Like, right after you got back. Other than that, there's been no one but you."

She dropped her hands. "Really?"

"We are sleeping together and not with anyone else. I hang out at your place, you hang out in mine. We can’t keep our hands off each other. Neither of us is seeing anyone else. I'm pretty sure we're already together," he pointed out. "I even cooked you dinner. Do you think I ever cook for girls, or anybody for that matter?"

"There's some left?" she asked hopefully. "I smelled it, obviously, but I didn't think…"

She tried to jump out of bed, but he pulled her back. He wasn't ready to let her go yet, not when she was naked and tempting. "Where do you think you're going, woman?"

"To eat, obviously! That smells amazing! I'm starving."

You shook his head and held her tighter. "Nuh uh. You have to pay the toll first."

She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but he was too strong. "Let me go before I gnaw off your arm!"

"Not before you pay the toll. It's the price of my gourmet cooking."

She sighed and stopped squirming when she realized she couldn't get free. "And the toll is..."

"Is what?"

"An orgasm. For me, obviously. But you can have one too if you want, because I’m feeling generous."

She barked out laughter. "Oh my god! Your mac and cheese is good, but come on! No food is worth prostituting yourself for!"

"It has bacon in it," he explained.

"Oh. You do have a point."

He glanced at the clock and grinned at her despite the fact that she didn't have enough time to give him a proper blowjob and eat a real meal before her patrol started. "But in the interest of time, there is something you can do instead. You know, to pay the toll."

Her stomach grumbled loudly. "What?"

"It'll save you time, so keep that in mind."

"Okay..." she said reluctantly.

"You can eat my spunk for dinner," he deadpanned.

She hit him. "Oh my god! You perv!"

He laughed, "I'm kidding! Just kidding! There's something else you can do to get food, I swear!"

"Beat you up and steal it?"

"Like you could beat me up!" Actually, given the right motivation and trickery, he was sure she could. "Just yell out the window, 'Paul Lahote is a sex god and the best damn boyfriend in the world!'"

She nearly collapsed with laughter. "You fucker, I'm not saying that!"

"Then blow me!"

"In your dreams!" She started tickling him mercilessly until he lost his grip, and she jumped up and sprinted toward the kitchen. He sprang up and tackled her in the hallway, denting the drywall. "Crap, look what you did to our house!"

He grinned ear-to-ear hearing her refer to their house. He was going to get so much shit from the guys for being such a sap. "You did that. I told you your choices, and instead you ran away. You know what you need to do to get some of daddy's mac and cheese."

"Hold up, now you're calling yourself daddy?"

"Say it, or give daddy some sugar!"

She laughed so hard she started wheezing. "Blow yourself!"

"Say it or I'll... or I'll..."

"You'll what?"

He took a page from her playbook, pinned her with his knees, and tickled her in the ribs until she squealed. "I'll do this!"

In between gales of laughter, she managed, "Uncle! Uncle!"

"That's not what I want to hear!" He reached down for her sensitive feet.

"Stop it! Shit! Fucker!” But she couldn’t get away.

He yelled, “Say it!”

“Paul... Lahote is a..."

"Sex god," he prompted.

"...sex god and... the… the…”

"Best damn boyfriend In the world."

She yelled, "...and the most conceited person in the world."

"Close enough!" He pulled her off the floor and gave her a bear hug.  "I can't believe that worked!" he crowed while crushing her.

"Which part? Your ridiculous proposal to get me to move in, or getting me to say that shit?"

As he carried her to the kitchen to feed her, he answered, "Both! This is the best day ever!"

"What the hell am I getting myself into?" she chuckled into his neck.

He exclaimed enthusiastically, "I have no fucking idea!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Babs81410.


	18. Conflict of Interest

Sam finally returned to patrol the day before Emily returned, but he wasn't willing to do so with anyone other than his best friend. He didn't trust anyone else with his concerns about Emily's fidelity. Jared dismissed them outright. _Come on, man. You know she would never do that to you. She's the actual perfect woman for you, picked by the spirits and all. Unless you've got some weird fetish for being cuckolded, it would never even cross her mind to betray you like that. You know her better than that._

_But what about those texts, that picture? They didn't come from nowhere._

Jared pointed out, _Let's just pretend for a second that she was actually cheating on you. It's not possible, but just for the sake of argument. Why would she give your number to the other guy? That doesn't even make sense. No one’s that stupid._

_That's true,_ Sam grudgingly admitted.

_Someone's just fucking with you, man._

_But what about the password on her phone? All those times she's gone and I don't know where? The constant, secretive texting?_

Jared chided, _Who are you, her fiancé or her jail warden? She's allowed to go out. Maybe she wants a cup of coffee. Maybe she wants to take a walk. There are a hundred perfectly reasonable explanations. Has she ever given you reason to doubt her? And the texting? It's not like she has no friends. She might not know that many people around here, but I know she and Kim text each other a lot. Plus, how else is she supposed to keep up with all her friends in Neah Bay? And the password? That's so normal. I keep my phone password protected too, just in case it gets stolen or lost or something. I don't want someone else getting into my email and stuff. There's private information in there. Not private from Kim, just accounts and things._

_I guess that's possible._

Jared insisted, _It's not just possible, it's probable. It's what's going on. Look, I'm sure it was gross seeing that dick pic. But that's that douchebag's fault, not Emily's. All it means is that she's got some asshole creeping on her. You should be out for his blood, not hers._

Now he felt incredibly guilty. How could he doubt her? She was his imprint, and therefore she was perfect. _You're right. She's probably scared of this creep, and I'm only making things worse._

_You're driving yourself crazy for no reason. She's your imprint, man, not some skanky ho. She deserves some respect._

_You're right,_ Sam sighed. _I'm being an asshole, aren't I._

Jared agreed. _Grade A asshole. But I get it. I'd be pissed if I got that pic too. But it's probably from Paul or something._

Sam denied it. _No, it was some white guy. Definitely not Paul._

_Not a picture of his junk. One of his friends or just some picture off the Internet. The guy’s got it out for you. Hey, did you know he asked Leah to move in with him?_

Suddenly all thoughts of Emily flew from Sam's mind. _What?_ he roared. _That motherfucker. I'm going to tear him apart._

Jared didn't understand Sam's anger. _Dude, who cares? What does it matter what they do?_

_She didn't say yes, did she? She couldn't have. She barely knows the guy._

_What are you talking about? We all know each other better than anybody else, except our imprints. We all know each other better than our parents._

Sam snarled, _Are you defending them? Do you actually think that this is a good idea?_

_What? Of course not! But I don't particularly care, either. It makes no difference to me what they do on their own time, and it shouldn't matter to you. They can make trouble for each other, so long as they're not making trouble for me._

Sam insisted, _They can't be together. It's not possible. They fight like cats and dogs. She's just some piece of ass to him, and she's just sleeping with him to get back at me._

_Again, who cares? Together, not together, what does it matter? Playing house, arguing, whatever. So what if he just wants to have her move in so that they can bang with some privacy? It's not a big deal._

_It is a big deal!_ Sam raged.

Jared had no clue why Sam cared. _You shouldn't let them get to you. It’s just Leah, man. I know you guys used to have a thing, but..._

_We didn't 'have a thing',_ Sam growled. _We were engaged._

_You were, and then you imprinted. So now Leah belongs in the category of Not Emily. Leave her where she belongs, which is nowhere. I know you feel guilty about her, but what happened isn't your fault. It isn't anyone's, so don't let her guilt trip you. And don't let Paul get to you either. He's just trying to piss you off, so don't let him. It's not like they're going to get married or something. They're just shacking up, which shouldn't matter to you at all. Other than being pack, she doesn't matter._

Sam was torn between two truths. He believed that what Jared said was right, yet the gnawing in his stomach and the gaping ache in his chest told him otherwise. Emily was far enough away that he could tell how wrong Jared was, how wrong Emily was, how wrong he was. Leah mattered. She always had, and she always would.

_Go home,_ he said flatly. _I'll patrol by myself._

_What? What are you talking about? Don't be dumb. It's not safe to patrol alone. You've said that a hundred times._

_I've said it to weaker, smaller, less experienced wolves. I'm the Alpha. I can patrol alone. Hell, I was the only protector for months._

Jared tried to reason with him but said the wrong thing. _I'm not going to leave you alone to stew about Leah. She's nobody, Sam._

_Go home._ This time it was an order. _If I howl, come. But otherwise I don't want to see you again until it's time for your next patrol._

Jared grumbled a protest, but he had no choice, and he felt silly protesting about unexpected time off. He disappeared, leaving Sam was alone with his thoughts.

Paul could not possibly appreciate Leah. He only knew her as the bitter, despairing creature she had become. He hadn't heard the sound of her clear, joyous laugh. He hadn't seen how warm and deep her eyes could be. He hadn't made her smile the sweet, pure smile that Sam treasured but hadn't seen in months. He did not know how smart she was, how loyal, how loving, how good.

He knew none of these things, yet he knew her body. He knew the softness of her skin, the dip of her waist, the weight of her breast in his palm, the heat of her flesh. He had felt her breath on his skin, heard her cries, tasted her arousal. He had experienced the pure bliss of being inside her. He knew what Sam would never know again. It drove him mad.

Paul didn't deserve her. Period. He was a lazy, hot tempered, uncontrollable brute with no prospects and no future. Leah was... so much more.

Sam had already tried to separate them. He was convinced that Paul was using Leah and that he would only hurt her in the end. He had scheduled their patrols separately. He had assigned them different sparring partners. He had told Paul to leave her alone, but it only made Paul pursue her more tenaciously.

But that only made Sam angrier. He took it as evidence that Paul was only using Leah for sex, and that he was being thoughtless and cruel. It was one thing when they were living apart and screwing around on the side. Leah insisted it wasn't serious, so he let it slide, no matter how much it burned him. But now Paul was tricking her into thinking she meant something to her. He was telling her lies in order to manipulate her and to infuriate Sam. He couldn't be allowed to get away with it.

By the next day, Sam hadn't figured out what to do. He was so worked up about Leah that he almost forgot his suspicions about Emily. Early in the afternoon, he found his feet carrying him to the driveway before he even heard her car's motor. When she pulled up and got out, peeking at him through her hair, he held her close, brushed the strands away from her face, and gently kissed each one of her scars like he always did. Something niggled at the back of his brain, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember what it was.

"Did you have a good time seeing your family, Em?"

She smiled up at him. "Yes, but I missed you. I wish you could have come with me. I can hardly stand to be apart."

"Me neither. But I have to patrol whether I like it or not."

She patted his arms. "This tribe is so lucky to have you. You give so much of yourself, and most of them don't even know it. I wish I could tell them. I wish I could shout from the rooftops just how amazing you are."

He joked, "You can tell them I'm awesome, just not why."

He grabbed her bags and carried them inside as she reassured him, "I'm pretty sure they already know you're amazing. They just don't know the details. You're such a strong leader. You're going to make a great chief one day."

He dropped the bags on the floor of the bedroom and froze. Being chief had never been one of his ambitions. "What are you talking about? The chief has always been a Black, never a Uley."

She waved her hand dismissively. "That's just an old, outdated tradition. This is the 21st century. Billy was elected chief, remember? Someday you will be too."

That didn't sound quite right. Sam couldn't quite identify why until he caught sight of a box sitting on the floor of the open closet. It was one of the many things that he looked at while tearing apart the house while Emily was gone. He stared at it, trying to remember. Why had he done that? Why had he searched the house? What was he looking for? He shook his head, trying to clear it. The box only held his diploma and school memorabilia. Why did he take it down? He couldn't remember. But he did remember what he and Emily were talking about. "I never wanted to be chief. I wanted to go to college. Maybe move to a bigger city. Seattle, maybe. Right now there's no way, but it won't be like this forever. Don't you want to go somewhere when all this vampire stuff is over?"

Emily's face fell. He felt fear and shame emanating off of her in waves. "But the tribe needs you," she said feebly. "Do you really think it's a good idea to leave?"

He felt an overwhelming urge to comfort her, although he didn't know why at first. He rushed to reassure her, wrapping his arms around her protectively. He was so stupid. How could he ask her to leave the safety of La Push? He knew how self-conscious she was about the way she looked now, and it was all his fault for clawing her face. Now she hated meeting new people. She despised being stared at, and she imagined people were constantly whispering about her behind her back. Here, at least she held a kind of status as his fiancée. The elders held her in high regard. They thought her scars were proof of her loyalty to Sam. The pack appreciated her for taking care of them. Other people had gotten accustomed to her appearance. Those that knew her well didn't really notice her scars anymore; they were too used to them. She was terrified of starting over somewhere where she would have to explain the way she looked, where she would have to rebuild an identity, a reputation, all from scratch. He reassured her, "You're right. Of course you are. This is where we are supposed to be. You and me."

Her face immediately brightened. "Yes! We are pillars of this community. They need us here. We can't abandon them. You protectors phase for a reason. We can't turn our backs on the duty of the spirits have given to us, no matter how tempting it might be."

"You're right. Of course you're right." She was, wasn't she? She always was. What was he thinking?

"I know that being a protector is a huge responsibility, and it isn't any fun. It's dangerous, it's scary, and it's pretty thankless. But I'm so hugely proud of you for doing it, for being such a strong leader." Her look of approval washed over him. He felt wonderful, basking under her attentions, until she tilted her head and looked at something on the floor. "What's that?"

He turned to see her picking up the remnants of his broken cell phone from where he had kicked them under the bed. Suddenly he remembered what had happened while she was gone. It was like a switch flipped in his brain. "An accident," he explained. Before he lost his nerve, before the thought was erased from his brain, he forced out his question. "Where were you Saturday night?"

He was glad that she was facing him. Had she been turned away, he would not have seen the momentary expression of mortification that crossed her face. It lasted only an instant. Then she smoothed over a mask of calm. She cleared her throat. "Excuse me? You know where I was."

He meant to deny it, to tell her everything, but the words got choked off in his throat. In a neutral tone, he managed, "Who were you meeting?"

If she was innocent, she should have looked confused, or she should have reminded him that she was seeing her family. Instead she narrowed her eyes and immediately got offended. “I… What… What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded. “What exactly are you accusing me of?"

Sam's heart sank as his anger rose. She was being much too defensive. What had she done? He wanted to display his anger and disappointment, but he simply could not. "I saw the messages,” he said softly.

Before he could continue, she screeched, "How dare you? Were you snooping through my things? I can't believe it! After everything I've done for you, given up for you, after what you've already done to me, I've given you everything. And this is how you treat me? By disrespecting me this way?"

Who was this woman? His sweet, kind, affectionate imprint hadn't raised her voice like this in months. Right after he imprinted, before he fully erased Leah from his life, Emily had shown him fury, resentment, bitterness, and gall. She thought he wasn’t over his ex and accused him of leading them both on, but she hadn’t talked to him in this manner since Leah had moved away. Now Sam had to will himself not to apologize. He felt compelled to take it all back, to grovel and beg for forgiveness. But he managed to realize that she hadn't denied anything. She had simply gotten furious. "Disrespecting you? How about disrespecting me?"

She stammered, "Y-you have no right. I'm your imprint, Sam. You're supposed to honor me, protect me, take care of me. Not question me and fling baseless accusations of infidelity in my face!"

He narrowed his eyes. "What accusations? When did I accuse you of cheating?" He asked. He had been quite vague. He hadn't accused her of cheating, not in so many words. Why had she immediately jumped to that conclusion?

Her eyes widened in panic. "I don't... I just... I don't appreciate your tone, Sam. You didn’t have to say it flat out,” she backpedaled. “I knew what you meant. You had no right."

There was so much he wanted to say to that. So many things he wanted to yell. All he could bite out were the words, "Saturday. Where were you Saturday?"

"You know where I was! I was with my mom and sister! I told you that!"

He shook his head slowly. "No, you weren't."

She sputtered, "W-what are you talking about? Of course I was! I was with one or the other of them the whole week!"

"But not on Saturday," he said flatly. "I came to look for you."

Now she was furious. "Are you stalking me? Oh my God. You are, aren't you? I can't believe you would do that to me! I'm your imprint, Sam, your fiancée, not some common whore! I can't believe you're treating me this way!  What the hell is wrong with you?"

Guilt threatened to overwhelm him. Was she right? It certainly felt like she was. He felt terrible. He ought to trust her, shouldn't he? But no, that wasn't right. She hadn't actually addressed a single one of his concerns, had she? He started to pace back and forth in frustration. He wished he could keep his wits about him. His mental faculties were being manipulated, his emotions being twisted to suit the imprint’s purposes. "Just tell me where you were. I know you weren't with your family on Saturday night."

She refused to answer the question. "No. Where the fuck do you get off questioning me?" Her voice was like ice. “I have given you everything. Everything! I overturned my entire life to take care of you, to be with you. Do you know what I've given up? All for you. And this is what I get for it?"

As much as he wanted to hold onto his pride, to tell her it was over, to leave her forever, her desires overpowered his. He couldn't stop unwanted words from flowing out of his mouth like vomit. "I… I… I ha… I’m sorry. I'm so sorry." He wanted to scream in frustration, but he shut his mouth to prevent himself from retracting everything.

She shut her eyes to steady herself, setting her lips in a thin, grim line and taking deep breaths through her nose to calm herself. Finally she said, "Good. You ought to be. Where the hell did all that come from, anyway? Does this have anything to do with it?" She held up the pieces of his phone.

He nodded stiffly. "I got messages that were meant for you."

She turned, hiding her face from view, but he heard the small choking noise she made. "Meant for me? Why would..." she trailed off before mumbling, "I'm sure you just misinterpreted something."

He wanted to dispute her, say that there was no way he could have misinterpreted the messages he had received. Instead he heard himself say, “I must have.”

"I'd ask to see them, since I could probably help you figure out what they were all about, but I'm guessing..."

"The phone's not really fixable."

"I figured as much. We really can't afford to buy a new one, either." Her voice hardened again, and she focused angry, accusing eyes at him. "You have to keep your temper under control.” She flipped back her hair accusingly to bare the scars that permanently disfigured her face, and he cringed with shame and guilt. “Thank god that this piece of plastic was the only thing in your way when you got angry."

His anger was buried with the overwhelming regret that he had hurt her, not just when he tore into her skin, but now as well. He tried to remember the facts, remember the messages he had received and the way she had reacted to hearing of them, tried to recall the awful truth he had seen on her face, but the imprint swept it away. "You're right. I'm so sorry. I'm so ashamed. Can you ever forgive me?"

Emily frowned. “I don't know. I'm not even sure what just happened. I'm so hurt that you would think such awful things about me."

Sam was drowning. He took her hands in his. "I don't. I swear that I don't. You deserve better from me. I know that." Underneath the words coming out of his mouth, he knew there was more to the truth, but it was slipping away. The pull of his guilt was too strong. He had hurt the most precious being in the universe, and he must do everything in his power to make it up to her. Tears sprang up in her eyes, and he felt like a monster. How could he make her cry? She should only smile, laugh, and to be happy. She should only ever feel loved.

She examined him closely, saw what she wanted, and her expression changed again. She let out a little sob. "You and I are meant to be, don't you know that? There is nothing truer in the universe. I'm so sure of it. I thought you were too."

He rushed to reassure her, "I am! I swear! I love you. I love you more than anything."

Her lip quivered, and she let her tears fall. They washed away what was left of his anger. "You didn't sound like you did a minute ago. You said such terrible things.”

"I'm an idiot. I'm such a fool. Please, forgive me." Now he could hardly even remember why he was apologizing. He knew he had done something unforgivable, but he couldn't quite remember what it was. The memory loss alarmed him, but he shoved it aside to focus on her needs.

She took a deep breath and stilled. "Is something going on? Something stressing you out? Because you're not acting like yourself."

"Emily, you're too kind. I can't believe you would ask about my welfare when I obviously don't deserve your sympathy."

She sniffed. "I want to know. I'm here for you, don't you know that? I want to support you in any way I can.” She hazarded a guess. "Did something happen with Leah? Or Paul? Those two are such trouble."

"Well, now that you mention it…"

“I knew it! She's been out to get you since she first phased, and he's been a thorn in your side from the very beginning. What did they do this time?"

He clarified, "They didn't do anything to me. They're just moving in together. Or she's moving into his place, I guess."

"Oh.” She looked confused. “Is that all?"

He rapidly became uncomfortable again. How could he explain how much he hated the idea? What Leah did shouldn't matter to him. She was hardly his business anymore. "Doesn't it seem like a bad idea to you?" he ventured.

She thought about it for a second. "Well, if one of them imprints on someone else, it does seem like it could get pretty messy pretty fast."

He jumped on her point. "Yes! Exactly!”

"You think she'd know better by now," Emily mused. "But I think she kind of eats it up. She's a bit of a drama queen, don't you think?"

Sam didn't agree at all, but said, "I guess so."

"She's just doing this to bother you. Don't let it get to you," she advised.

"You're right. Of course you are."

“I’m just appalled at the lengths she would go to just to get back at you. It’s unseemly. Irrespectable. You think she’d care more about her own reputation, but she’s just too bitter to see how she looks to other people.”

What was she talking about? “Mmm…” he said noncommittally.

“How pathetic, honestly.” She tossed his ruined phone in the trash and started to unpack her things. “It just goes to show how desperate she is. And how’s she going to take it when he imprints on someone else? Not well, I’m guessing. Look at how badly she handled things with you.”

“Probably not…”

“But this time she’s just asking for it. She should know better. If she was meant to be with someone, she'd imprint. If she doesn't imprint, she's meant to be alone. And I’ll bet that he’s the one to imprint on someone else, not her.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked.

Emily shrugged. “She’s defective. Broken. She's a freak of nature."

He wondered, if Emily thought Leah was a freak of nature, what was he? They were the same. But he said nothing.

She continued, "She's not supposed to exist. This tribe doesn’t need the likes of her contaminating the gene pool. Thank the spirits that you managed to get away from her. Otherwise you'd still be trapped.”

The word thudded around in his skull. "Trapped..." he echoed quietly.

His chest began to throb, and while he tried to figure out what it meant, she continued, "Honestly, you should find a way to end it before it all goes south. You don't want to deal with the fallout either way, but if they stop seeing each other sooner rather than later, it'll be less messy."

He frowned. "But what can I do to stop it? It's not like they asked my permission."

She looked him straight in the eyes. "Sam, you're the Alpha. Take control of your pack. It's your duty and your responsibility."

"Yes, but their private life isn't pack business."

"It will be when they inevitably break up. They can't last, and they'll tear apart the pack when they do. You can't let it get that far. You should break them up before anything worse happens.”

Sam nodded. Emily was right, wasn't she? "I should, shouldn't I?"

She turned away, so he missed her smug smirk. "Don't let them get away with this. It's not right."

Sam spent the next few hours agreeing with her, begging for forgiveness and trying to make up for doubting her. Soon he couldn't even remember what he thought she had done.

The next day, while Sam patrolled with Embry, Emily talked to Kim. She wanted to know what had set Sam off, but there was no way she was talking to him about it again. Kim told her everything that Jared had told her. Emily was livid. She swore she hadn't done anything to draw the attentions of the unknown caller. Kim reassured her that no one thought she had. She was Sam's perfect match, so she would never do anything to hurt him, just like Kim would never hurt Jared. Emily reminded her that while the elders and the pack knew who she was to Sam, no one else in the community did. Others still thought of her as the woman who stole her cousin's fiancé. She feared this rumor might spread and further damage her reputation. Kim stated that she couldn't figure out why anybody would try to harm Emily. Emily said that there was only one person who would try to destroy her happiness: the bitter, pathetic woman who once sank her claws deep into Emily's soulmate. Leah.

Emily wanted to confront Leah, but she had nothing upon which to base her accusation. Kim reassured her that Jared would handle it. So that very evening, when Jared patrolled with Leah, he did. She didn't bother denying that she was behind the prank. She just laughed and said that it had turned out even better than she had expected. She certainly didn't think Brock would send an explicit photo. She thought it was hysterical.

Jared didn't wait until the end of his shift to tell Sam. He knew how much agony his friend had experienced since receiving the messages, so he ran directly to the cabin.

Emily was visibly relieved at Jared's news, but Sam was infuriated. He raced out of the woods, sending Jared home for the duration of his shift, and phasing before he hit the tree line and destroying his clothes. He ran toward Leah, his mind open and raw. _What the fuck were you thinking?_

She was trotting at an unhurried pace eastward along an established trail. They hadn’t gotten any sign of Victoria in weeks, but none of them thought she was really gone. Leah was carefully examining the area for anything out of place. Instead of answering his question, she said, _Evening, Sam. Patrol’s been dull today. The only vamp trails we’ve found belong to the Cullens, and they’re staying on their side of the border._

_Leah, I’ll only say it one more time. What were you thinking?_

She laughed, which only infuriated him. _Jared is such a tattletale. Was he like that as a kid, too? I don't remember._

_This isn't about Jared. This is about you. I can't believe you would do this to me. To Emily._ He sped toward her, noting that she wasn't even pretending to run away. She was just moving at the same steady pace. She wasn't afraid in the least, but he thought she ought to be.

Placidly, she commented, _Funny, isn't it? You think you know somebody, and then…_

He snapped, _That wasn't the same, and you know it._

_Oh, not the same at all,_ she agreed.

He was as hurt as he was angry, although there was something else beneath that too, but he couldn't sort out his emotions. _What you made me accuse her of, it's despicable._

_Despicable? I actually thought it was pretty hilarious. Definitely worth a few laughs. Or have you lost your sense of humor along with everything else, Sam?_

_Be glad you're a girl. If you were one of the guys, I would have your hide. Literally._

She actually slowed down slightly to let him catch up. _Ooh, I'm shaking. I'm so scared,_ she said sarcastically. _So afraid of the big, bad wolf._

He wanted to smack her obnoxious attitude right out of her. _I'm warning you, Leah. You didn't just hurt me, you hurt Emily. And that is absolutely unacceptable. I will not tolerate it. She is…_

She rolled her eyes. _Yeah, yeah, yeah. Precious imprint, most amazing creature in the universe, blah, blah, blah. Go stick your head back up her ass, Sam. You'll be so warm and cozy up there that you won't notice the smell of shit surrounding you._

He growled out loud. _Watch it. You're crossing a line._

_What, because I don't think that her shit smells like flowers? That's right, I forgot. She is an imprint, so she must be perfection. She can do no wrong, correct?_ She quickly scanned his recent memories and latched on. _Oh, well isn't that juicy? You couldn't figure out where she was, could you?_

Defensively, he answered, _She was with her family. You know that._

_Do I? You tell me. You're the one who went to look for her and couldn't find her. Where did she say she was when you asked her?_ she challenged.

Sam refused to answer. _You're just jealous. It's pathetic. I don't even know why I'm bothering with you._

_Me neither,_ she answered blithely. _So why don't you skip on home to your perfect little lady and let me do my job? Heck, give Jared the night off, too. I’ll do this by myself._

He avoided answering. _I know you're not happy about us, but I expected better of you. That was just cruel._

_Actually, I'm pretty sure it was a clever little prank. It's not my fault that she's doing shady things. How was I supposed to know you'd immediately jump to the worst conclusion? Oh wait, is it because she's totally untrustworthy?_

He weakly defended Emily. _You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know her._

_Don't I?_ she asked incredulously. _I've known her a lot longer and much better than you have. Although to be honest, I'm actually not accusing her of anything in particular this time. But she's got a history of cheating, and you know what they say. Once a cheater, always a…_

_Shut the fuck up!_ he yelled. _She would never do anything to hurt me like that. She's not that kind of person. She's better than that._

Leah scoffed, _Really? You believe that? I used to. I used to think that she was my best friend, that she loved me, and that she would never betray me. I was wrong about her the entire time. But probably you shouldn't listen to me. I'm a shitty judge of character. I trusted you too._

Sam's anger twisted into guilt. _We didn't set out to hurt you. You know that._

_Now that I can see inside you, I know that you weren't deliberately trying to hurt me,_ she admitted quietly. _Didn't stop you from doing it, though, and it hasn't stopped you since I got back. Although now that I see what you've turned into, I guess you did me a favor by dumping me. But her? She wasn't doing me any favors, and you're a fool if you think she's changed for you. I don't know if she's done anything this time. That picture you got was from some sleazy guy that I met, not her. But you really ought to figure out where she went that night, don't you think?_

He insisted, _Nothing's going on. I'm sure of it._ But he wasn't, and she knew it.

_People don't change, not that much._ Then she paused, thinking of the complete personality transformation Sam himself had undergone. _Not normally, anyway._

He saw an opportunity to go on the offensive. _Then what about Paul, huh? You think he's changed his ways, all for you? You think he's done playing the field? He's just using you like he's used every other girl. If you think otherwise, that you're more special than the rest of them, you're delusional. He's player, a user, and you're nothing to him. Not really. You're just a way to get at me._

_Even if that's true,_ she said smugly, _I'm perfectly happy to be used. He's making it worth my while. Besides, he asked me to move in, not get engaged. I'm not under any illusions about what he and I are doing, and I know it isn't all about you. When he touches me, you're the farthest thing from both our minds._

The comment stung. Sam insisted, _He's going to hurt you. I’m not just going to stand around and watch it happen._

_Who says you have any right to watch? What he and I do is none of your business. You don't like it? Too bad. Stay out of it._

_I won't. Believe it or not, I care about you. I won't let him take advantage of you._

Now she was angry. _You don't have a choice! Either accept it, or look away if you don't want to see. I am none of your concern anymore_.

Sam was fueled by anger and desperation. He leapt over fallen logs and dodged between trees, pushing himself faster and faster, and he began to catch up to her. He growled, _It doesn't work that way, and you know it. He's just with you to piss me off..._

_Why, is there nothing about me that's appealing enough to attract him?_

_That's not what I said at all! Of course he wants you. But it's just lust. And the only reason you're giving him the time of day is to try to make me jealous. He isn't good enough for you. What does he have to offer? Absolutely nothing. He's nothing._

_Now you're out of line!_ she yelled. _He may be young, but he's got heart and passion and brains. And unlike some people, he doesn't make promises that he has no intention of keeping. He knows better than to offer empty words and meaningless gestures._

_He hasn't promised you anything because he has nothing to give! He's not good enough for you! And don't you tell me that I gave you empty words. I meant everything I ever said to you!_

_Actions speak louder than words, Sam, and your actions tell me that you’re a miserable prick. No, it's you who have nothing, not him. You're the one who breaks his promises. I don't know who you are anymore. You're an empty shell of the man you used to be. He may be young and immature, he's rough around the edges and he's got a temper, but he's real and he's honest. You gave up the right to even think about me, so get out of my brain, and stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong! What we do is none of your business!_

Sam caught sight of her just as he yelled, _None of my business? Of course it's my business! I'm your Alpha! And you and I have too much between us. You're mine. Do you understand that? Mine!_

She wheeled to face him, baring her teeth. _I am not! Maybe I was once, but you threw me away like a piece of trash. You don't get to pick me up, dust me off, and put me in your back pocket to take out and use whenever you happen to remember that I exist._

He paced back and forth in front of her, barely managing to resist the urge to forcibly remind her of his dominance. _That isn't how it is. You're not being fair. I didn't choose any of this!_

_Neither did I!_ she shouted. _But this is the shitty hand that life dealt me, and I refuse to apologize for finding something good in it, for making something for myself in it. You don't like it? Too bad! I'm not yours anymore!_

His eyes flashed at her, and she recognized an emotion that she hadn’t seen from him in months. But it was twisted and black, an adulterated mockery of the love he once had for her. _You’ll always be mine._

She snarled, _Even if you left her and crawled back to me on your knees, I wouldn't take you back. You'd better get used to the idea that I don't belong to you anymore, because there is nothing good left between us. You destroyed it, you and Emily, and now you have to live with your choices._

_You don't tell me what to do,_ he growled. _I am in charge of this pack, and I am in charge of you._

She actually barked a mocking laugh at him. _You're not even the real Alpha, Sam. You're a stand-in. A placeholder. You didn't earn that title, you're just the oldest. It isn't yours by right, by birth, or by merit. You make shitty decisions based on incomplete information, your priorities are completely fucked up, and you aren't even in control of your own mind. You don't deserve to call yourself a man, let alone the Alpha. Paul's more of a man than you could ever be._ To drive the point home, she flashed up explicit images of her new lover.

It was like a knife to Sam's heart, and he reacted with violence. He sprang at her. The movement was so abrupt that she barely had time to dodge out of the way. Instead of colliding with her head on, he skidded in the dirt beside her. She instinctively twisted around to snap her jaws at him, but he was already on top of her. He slammed her to the ground. _Submit!_ he roared.

_Fuck you!_

He sank his teeth into her neck, and this time his tone left no room for disobedience. _Submit!_ he repeated. It was an order.

She tried to stop it, but her body immediately went limp and she complied involuntarily. _I submit,_ she gritted out against her will.

It wasn't good enough for him. Between his paranoia about his imprint's behavior, the argument he had had with Emily over her whereabouts, his dismay over Leah's new relationship, and the insults to his authority, Sam's emotions were in chaos. He lashed out, and she was the only one there to absorb his anger and confusion. He tightened his jaw, drawing blood. _I am the only Alpha, do you understand?_

_Yes. Let go, damn it!_ She would rather have fought him off bodily, but he was simply too strong, and his order was unbreakable.

_Not until you understand. I will not tolerate this kind of disrespect to me or to my imprint._

That was too much to bear. _Fuck off,_ she growled. She thrashed beneath him, but to no avail. _You want my respect, you earn it._

He leaned harder into her side, putting painful pressure against her ribs and unprotected stomach. _What do you think I'm doing right now?_

_Being an overgrown bully! Shit, you and Emily deserve each other. She's a backstabbing, cheating bitch, and you're a pathetic thug who's lost his goddamned mind._ She tried to swipe at him with her claws, but he had effectively immobilized her. The only thing she managed to do was twist around enough to let him settle his teeth around her trachea.

_Hold still! You don't move until I say you can move. Because you can call me all the names you can think of, but the only one that matters is Alpha. You will do as I say._

She struggled in futility beneath him, pain lancing through her neck and torso. But she would not be cowed. _You can't control me, Sam. No matter how many orders you give me, no matter how hard you try, no matter if you spend every waking hour stalking me, you cannot control my life._

_That's what you think._ Unbidden, Emily's voice rang out in Sam's mind. He heard her telling him to take control of his pack. He saw her face in his memory as she told him to end things between Leah and Paul. He knew it would hurt her, and some part of him regretted that. But his heart was hard. He clamped down on her throat.

She began struggling to breathe as she realized what he was about to do. She gasped and pled, _Sam, don't. You can't._

_I can and I will._ He cut her off and issued his order. _Leah, you will end your relationship with Paul. You are to restrict all contact and communication with him to pack business and nothing more._

Her vision was going dim. Spots swam in her vision, but she managed, _Sam, no. You can't do this..._

_Say it again,_ he mocked. _Say it until you can’t speak any longer. See what difference it makes. You belong to me, Leah. You always have, and you always will. The spirits didn’t see fit to make you my imprint, but they still gave you to me. I simply wasn’t paying enough attention to understand. I can’t command Emily, but I can command you._

_Sam…_

Just before she lost consciousness, she heard him say, _It's over, and that's final. Trust me, it's better this way. You'll thank me someday…_

X-x-x-x-X

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Babs81410. As a sidenote, my work schedule is changing substantially, and I will usually no longer be able to post on Mondays. The story will still be updated regularly, but I am not sure on what day of the week.


	19. Possession

When Leah's body went limp beneath him, Sam’s fury drained out of him, and it was quickly replaced with panic. He tasted iron on his tongue and realized that it came from her. He looked down to see her involuntarily phase back to her vulnerable human form. Blood oozed from her throat onto the dirt beneath her. He phased out, terrified that another wolf would enter the pack mind and figure out what he had done, and he pulled her into his arms.

Thankfully, she wasn't dead, just unconscious. Her heartbeat and respirations were steady and strong. It was only a matter of time until she woke up. What was he supposed to do until then? For that matter, what was he supposed to do when she woke up? He had no regrets about his decision to order her to break up with Paul, but he certainly wasn't trying to render her unconscious. Should he just leave her there, naked and curled in the fetal position? That couldn't possibly end well. With their luck, someone would stumble across her. He wasn't sure whether it would be worse for a vampire or one of their brothers to find her. The former would hurt her, and the latter would misinterpret what had happened. He would be blamed.

He gripped her so tightly that he left bruises on her arms. He dropped her abruptly when he saw the purple marks, and he pulled on his clothes, worried that someone might stumble upon them. He grew increasingly frustrated. This was her fault, not his. Why did she have to push him so hard?

He only wanted what was best for her. Why couldn't she see that? Why did she insist on disrespecting him, angering him, egging him on, challenging his beliefs, and undermining his authority at every turn? Had she always been so irrational? He didn't think so. He remembered just the opposite, in fact.

He sighed as he knelt on the ground, looking down at her. He had to admit that even in this state, she was beautiful, stunning, even. He brushed her hair away from her face and focused on her plump, parted lips. They were as soft as he remembered, weren't they? His gaze drifted up to her long lashes. He recalled the way they felt brushing against his skin. Then he let his eyes trail along her long, smooth limbs. He couldn't help but think about how content he always felt when she wrapped her arms around him. Her curves, too, tempted him. Nothing compared to the sensation of her round buttock filling his palm or her full breasts pressing against his bare chest. And her silky skin was always impossibly soft, and it tasted so good. He closed his eyes and let his recovered memories wash over him, becoming increasingly aroused. When he opened them again, he knew why she was always so irrational when it came to him.

She was still in love with him, wasn't she? After all, he hadn't gotten over her, not even after imprinting on someone else. It explained everything: why she was so furious with him, why she wanted revenge on Emily so badly, why she was deliberately trying to make him envious by throwing herself at Paul. She was trying to replace him with another, but the other wolf was inferior, unworthy. It would never work. But it did succeed at making him jealous, insanely so. How could it not?

He spotted her clothes tied around her ankle and thought about dressing her as well, but instead he let himself linger on her skin. She was too beautiful to cover with torn, dirty garments. He looked around, wondering where to go. He remembered Paul having a similar internal debate during a disturbingly similar situation, and it infuriated him and inflamed him. That was the night Paul took advantage of Leah for the first time. How he would love to bear her back to his bed, to wait for her eyes to flutter open and look at him with love and lust, to share an intimacy with her that he so acutely missed. But his bed, which had once been their bed, was theirs no longer. He couldn't take her back to the cabin where Emily now lived. Nor could he take her to her mother's house, having no explanation that Sue would understand. He thought about a motel, but Emily would surely notice the charge on their credit card. And though Paul would welcome her into his home, Sam would rather leave her in the dirt than bring her to his rival.

No, he didn't want to let her go at all, nor did he want to be disturbed. With startling clarity, he remembered the last time he had watched her sleep. It was just a few days before he imprinted on Emily. They made love late into the night. They were both exhausted, and she fell asleep only moments after. He should have slept as well, but the allure of her flushed, restful face was too much. He had lain awake for a long time, just watching her. She looked so lovely then, just as she did now, so similar to the last night he watched her. He didn't want to look away, but they were too much in the open. Then it hit him. Where wouldn't they be found? Where was the last place anyone would think to look for them?

He carried her over the border, deep into Cullen land. A stream ran through the acreage behind the mansion, and Sam found a peaceful bend in the river bordered by an enormous weeping willow tree. The leaves hung so low that they touched the ground. He slipped under the canopy and settled himself at the base of the trunk, cradling her in his lap. As long as none of the vampires were hunting, they would remain undisturbed.

As he watched the slow, even rise and fall of her chest, drinking in the sight of her naked form, he thought of what she had done. She had given herself to Paul, who had never deserved her. She ought to return to him. She belonged with him and no other. She should give herself back to him. And if she didn't want to, he would simply take her. After all, he was her Alpha. She was his even if she didn't believe it. He would erase the other man from her memory and her body using his own. He would remind her how much she wanted him. He didn't have to give her back to her mother, or Paul, or her brother. He didn't have to give her back at all. They still loved one another, so he would keep her for himself.

Sam set Leah gently on the ground and leaned over her. Gingerly, he took one her slim ankles in his hand. He removed her strap of clothing and tossed it aside. Then he began to move his palm up her calf. It had been far too long since he last experienced the ecstasy of being inside her body. For that matter, it had been far too long since he had truly enjoyed himself during sex. But the drought was nearly over.

But Leah's leg twitched in his grasp before he could move it any higher. She abruptly yanked her foot away. She sat up and curled on to herself, trying unsuccessfully to shield herself. "What the fuck, Sam?" She looked around in confusion. "Where are we?"

"Not far," he reassured her. "Just somewhere a little more private."

She lunged for her clothes, hastily putting them on. "You and I don't need privacy. Actually, you should probably make sure there are always witnesses around when we're together. Because the only thing I want to do to you right now involves a capital crime."

He tried to pacify her. "Now, don't be like that. I know you're angry, but…"

"Angry doesn't even begin to cover it! You're a real piece of work, you know that? Every time I think you've outdone yourself, every time I think you can't reach a new low, you immediately sink deeper. I was about to say that I can't believe you're ordering me to break up with Paul, but really, I should have seen it coming. You're on a power trip you can't handle. You're nothing but a possessive, controlling asshole."

"Only because I care about you," he explained. "Deep down, you know that. You know me. This is us, Lee Lee…"

"Don't 'Lee Lee' me!" she snapped. "You don't get to call me that. The man who called me that, he loved me, and I loved him. He was good to me. You may look like him, you may sound like him, you may be walking around in his body, but you're not him. He's dead and gone, and I've accepted that already. I think it's time that you did, too."

She tried to walk away, but he grabbed her wrists. "That's not true. I'm still right here. We're both here, together. Don't you see what that means?"

She tried to shake her arms free, but his grip was too strong. "I think it means that you kidnapped me! Because any second I spend with you is against my will!"

He shook his head and sternly said, "No, you're here with me because you're meant to be. Don't you see that? Doesn't it say something to you that we've been thrown together like this, under these incredible circumstances? The world isn't even the place we thought it was. Like you said, I'm not who I thought I was, but neither are you. We thought the universe was tearing us apart when I imprinted on Emily, but that wasn't it at all."

"Oh, for crying out loud, you're saying this now? Going against everything you've said since the moment you looked at her, all because I'm moving on with Paul? Schizophrenic much?"

"No, don't you see it? This is our second chance. Leah, imprinting is rare, but a female wolf? That's impossible! And yet here you are, a member of my pack, not Jacob's, not Paul's, but mine. Here and now. The impossible plus the improbable. Don't you see what that means?"

She managed to wrest her arms free and spat, "It means the universe is out to get me! It probably means I was Hitler in a past life or something, and now I'm being punished over and over again!"

"No! It means we're still supposed to be together!"

"Oh, that's rich! You decide this now? Months after you dumped me and started fucking my cousin? Are you out of your mind?"

He insisted, "No, everything is finally clear! This whole year, nothing has made any sense. You being gone was like a gaping hole in my life. I was just too blinded by the imprint to understand. But then you came back, and you phased, of all things, and that opened my eyes. But I didn't know what I was looking at until now. Don't you see?"

She growled, "All I see is a crazy person! What the hell are you proposing, anyway? That I take you back? What about your precious Emily? Isn't she the center of the universe or something?"

"Yes! No… Yes, but…"

She snapped, "Make up your mind, god damn it! What the hell do you want, Sam?"

He took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts. "Look, you're a member of my pack for a reason. We are supposed to be together, otherwise things wouldn't have happened this way. But I also imprinted on her for a reason. She needs me, and I'm not going to abandon her."

"Good!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Then it's settled. I'll chalk this stupid conversation up to more of your mental instability. I hope you enjoy making each other completely miserable for the rest of your lives."

She started to walk away, but he stopped her by saying, "That's not what I meant."

She rolled her eyes. "Sam, I really don't care what you meant. I don't give a shit about anything you have to say, honestly. Talk to me about patrol, about vampires, about being a protector. I will disregard everything else you say."

"You don't have a choice," he said darkly. "You're mine whether you like it or not. But so is Emily. I can't turn my back on my imprint, just like I can't turn my back on you. I tried to let you go, but the spirits are telling us that I shouldn't have. I understand that now, and I'm going to make it right."

She whirled on him. "What the fuck are you suggesting? That you get married to Emily but keep me around as your mistress?" He was silent, but from the expression on his face, she realized that was exactly what he meant. "Oh my god, you are seriously suggesting that, aren't you? You aren't just making me break up with Paul to make me miserable, you're doing it so that you can use me and exploit me."

"I'm not exploiting you. I'm seeing the light. I never should have let you go."

"It's too late for that! You don't get to change your mind now! What the fuck, Sam? I don't get it. I've been seeing Paul for weeks. What's the difference? It can't just be sleeping at his place." Then it dawned on her. "Oh, this isn't about me. It's about Emily!"

"Of course it's about you! You're mine, just like you've always been! Before Emily, before Paul, we belonged each other. And we still do!"

She shook her head. "You really believe that, don't you? But this is happening now because of Paul, but also because you think she's cheating on you. You're using me to get back at her! I won't do it!"

"You will! This is just your temper speaking. You know we're meant to be!"

"No! You haven't just lost your mind, you've lost your conscience and your soul!"

She tried to walk away again, but he grabbed her by her upper arms. "You're not going anywhere, Lee Lee."

Rather than try to walk away from him, she let her body go limp. He wasn't expecting it, so she managed to slip out of his grasp. This time she bolted, snarling, "Fuck you!"

He didn't try to bodily restrain her. He didn't need to. "You forget. There isn't anywhere that you can go that's out of my reach."

Over her shoulder, she yelled, "You forget that I'm the fastest wolf. None of you has ever been able to catch me."

"I don't need to catch you. I don't need to take a single step," he pointed out as he stepped out of the canopy. Before she got too far away, he said, "All I need is one word." Leah didn't phase, worried that he would rejoin her in the pack mind. But she started running as fast as she could. But he was still well within earshot, and he was right. "Stop," he said simply.

She had no choice. Abruptly her feet stopped carrying her forward, and she skidded in the dirt. "Fuck," she hissed. "Don't do this, Sam."

"You don't tell me what to do," he said softly, coming up behind her. "I tell you what to do."

He placed his hands on her shoulders, and she growled, "Don't touch me."

"You don't mean that," he said quietly, and he led her back to the cover of the willow. She felt his breath on her neck, and she cringed, trying to squirm away. "Hold still, baby."

She complied because she had to. He ran his fingers up and down her arms. "What are you doing?" she whispered, alarmed. He couldn't possibly be doing what she thought he was doing, could he?

"Don't worry," he reassured her. "You'll like it." He placed a kiss under her ear. His breath tickled the back of her neck.

"No I won't!" She desperately tried to get her limbs to respond, but they were under his command, not hers.

He began a trail of light pecks toward her shoulder. She could hear him deeply inhaling her scent as he went. "Of course you will. I know what you like. I know you too well. I know exactly what to do. I haven't forgotten."

She tried to shake her head. "But you did. You forgot everything that matters."

He trailed his fingers along her collarbone, and then he slid his left arm around her waist. The hard mass of his body pressed up against her, and she felt his erection digging into her spine. "I haven't forgotten. How could I? The imprint even tried to take those memories away. But what we have--it's too important. Too good. You brought back all those memories, and I realized they never left me. Just like we can't leave each other."

Leah was furious. This was an insulting mockery of what they once had. If she still held on to any romantic notions about him, if she still cared for him in any way, the emotions were destroyed in that moment. "Stop it, Sam! This isn't right, and you know it!"

"It's so right, Lee Lee. It always was, and it always will be." He slipped his hand under her shirt, caressing her stomach. "You're so soft..."

"Get your hands off me!"

He shushed her. "Shhh. Just be quiet and let me touch you." Her throat closed immediately. She was paralyzed, and now she couldn't even protest. She had never been so angry in her life, not when he dumped her, not when she found out that he and Emily were together, not even when she phased and her father had died. Sam pressed open-mouthed kisses along her throat and tasted her skin. He whispered softly, but the tone was still unmistakable. "No words. I only want to hear you moan."

Sam lifted his hand to cup her bare breast, and she tried to scream. But just as he had ordered, a sultry, sex-drenched moan came out instead. "Mmm... That's it. That's what I missed." He licked the shell of her ear and pinched her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, and she gasped despite herself. He was surprisingly delicate in his maneuvers. Indeed, he hadn't forgotten what she liked. "You feel so good," he told her. He nipped lightly at the crook of her neck, worrying the skin. To her mortification, she began to tingle at every point of contact. Her body was reacting to him whether she liked it or not. "I've missed you so much."

Leah tried to speak, to protest. Her lips formed the words, "please", "no", and "don't," but nothing came forth. The only things he heard were the increase in her heart rate and her gasping breaths.

"I want you so badly," he admitted. "I never stopped. You know that, right?" He continued to fondle her with one hand, and with the other, he lowered the strap of her tank top, kissing her skin as he went, until her other breast was bare. "You're stunning. When we're alone, I don't ever want you to wear clothes. I want to worship you properly, with nothing between us." Then he took both of her breasts in his hands and groaned. "Your body is so perfect," he told her. "The spirits knew what they were doing, giving you eternal life. They've chosen to preserve this exquisite form just as it is now, forever. I know you don't like the way you're frozen in time, but just think of it. Your breasts will always look just like this." He used one finger to tilt her chin to the side, and he kissed her deeply. She wanted to bite his invading tongue, but she still couldn't move. When he parted from her, staring at her with lust-filled eyes, he said, "Your lips will always be so full." Then, as she glared at him with all the hate she could muster, he lowered his hand to her belly. "Your skin will always be this soft, this smooth. Time won't take a toll. You'll always be this beautiful." He lowered his hand further, fingering the button that held her shorts in place. "You're trembling, sweetheart."

She held her breath, unable to make any other form of protest. This couldn't possibly be happening, could it? Was he really going to go any farther? This version of Sam was a twisted, damaged version of himself. But was he also a rapist? He ground himself into her back and opened the button. She squeezed her eyes shut in desperate frustration. It seemed that he was. Leah wanted to scream at him, even scream at her own traitorous body. She was stronger than this, wasn't she? She was stronger than him. Why couldn't she make herself throw him off, yell, or even just shake her head?

Sam took her earlobe between his teeth and gently tugged. "You're still bare, aren't you? I'll bet you're even softer than I remember. I know you're warmer. It's going to feel so good." He lowered her zipper, and just when she thought he would slip his hand inside, he stilled. "I just thought of something, Lee Lee. You're never touching Paul, or any other man, again. I'm sure you think it's not fair that I'll still be with Emily." Leah was disgusted. Was he honestly going to bring up Emily right now? She only wanted to hear about his imprint if he was going to realize how much she would hate what he was doing and leave. But that wasn't what he was thinking at all. As he manhandled her breast and palmed the front of her shorts, he continued, "She won't be around forever. She wasn't granted the gift of eternal life, not like you were, like I was. You know, I wondered why I didn't imprint on you in the first place. You have to know that I would have chosen you if I could. But then you phased, and I didn't just get you back. I also realized why I didn't imprint on you. You're frozen, which means you can't get pregnant. And I have to have children. The pack has to go on. That's what the imprint is for. I have to be with her for now. I know you don't want to share... I certainly don't. But you won't have to for long. What's one human lifetime compared to eternity? Because that's what you and I will have. You'll be my first love and my last love."

She tried to spit out a denial. Did he actually expect her to wait in the wings, the pathetic and desperate other woman, waiting for Emily to die? Instead of venomous words, all that came out was an acquiescing hum. It encouraged Sam. "Can't you see it? I'll be the Alpha, not just of this pack, but also of all the packs to come. And you'll be my mate. They'll revere you for being so patient, for honoring our bond during the lifetime of my imprint. You'll be faithful to me, not just now, but forever. And then I'll be faithful to you for the rest of our lives. But we don't have to wait to be together. You're irresistible."

His fantasy gripped him, and he twisted her around and descended on her, biting at her lips, plunging his tongue into her mouth, and gripping her hips. He panted, "Oh, yes. You taste so good. You feel so good. Put your arms around me, baby." Her hands moved of their own accord. "You're right where you belong." He ground himself roughly into her belly. "You can't imagine how much I've missed this. You've missed me too, haven't you? I know you have. You haven't had the touch of a real man since we were last together. It's a crime that you've gone so long without real pleasure. But don't worry, I'm here now. We're both here now, and now that I've got you back, I'm never letting you..."

In the distance, they heard a branch snap. Both of them froze. "Shh..." Sam said unnecessarily. He hurriedly straightened her top and refastened her shorts, and then he shoved her behind him. "Stay here." He parted the canopy of leaves and stepped out. Leah smelled the air for traces of vampire, but other than the Cullen trails that permeated this part of the forest, she found nothing.

Moments later, she heard shuffling, and Sam said, "Hey, man."

More rustling noises sounded, and then Jared answered, "Hey. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"Is that Leah I hear?"

Sam answered, "Yeah. She's pouting in there."

Jared snorted. "Sounds like Leah. Why aren't you guys phased? And what are you doing out here?"

"I had to discipline Leah, you know that. But I thought I'd let her keep a little bit of her pride and yell at her in private. I figured that being phased was way too public. And frankly, I didn't want anyone else from the Rez hearing us either. I figured no one would be out here. C'mon out, Leah. It's just Jared."

She moved forward, glaring at both of them. Jared smirked at her and said, "Sam took you out behind the woodshed, huh?" When she didn't respond, he cocked a brow. "Leah? Nothing to say?"

Leah looked pointedly at Sam, wondering how he was going to explain his way out of this one. If he let her talk, she would tell Jared, and then the council, what Sam had done. Even if there was no way to get Sam arrested and charged with attempted rape, no one could argue that he didn't coerce her with his Alpha order. The proof was in their memories. The next time they phased, everyone would know. Even if nothing came of that, Jared would inevitably tell Kim, who would tell Emily. And Sam couldn't let that happen. There was no way he wanted Emily to find out how much he still wanted Leah.

Sam looked startled and alarmed. She could see the same thoughts crossing his mind. He hedged, "She can't talk right now. I ordered her to listen, and not to speak."

Jared grinned. "Sounds about right. I wish I could do that."

"It comes in handy. What's up, anyway? Are we needed? Did something happen?"

"Nah." Jared shook his head. "I just thought I should check on you guys. Make sure you didn't kill each other or anything. When no one was phased in, I thought I'd better make sure everything was okay, so I followed your trail. You heading home?"

"I won't be long."

"Should I tell Emily you'll be back soon?"

Sam nodded reluctantly. "Thanks. Tell her I have to talk to Leah a little longer. Then I'll go home, and Leah can finish patrol."

"Do you need me to patrol too? I was scheduled, remember?"

"Don't bother. Just keep an ear out. Leah will howl if she needs backup."

Jared jogged off, and Sam turned to Leah and pushed her back under the canopy of leaves and up against the trunk. When he was certain Jared was out of earshot, he kissed her brutally once again. After he broke away, he dropped his head into the crook of her neck and bit at her neck. "Damn it. I want you so badly it hurts. Why'd he have to show up? Now Em expects me soon. Oh, well. Another time, then."

He released her, and for a moment, she thought she was free. He couldn't keep her mute forever, and the second she was allowed to speak, she would. Even if she couldn't talk to Paul, she would tell Jacob, her mother, her brother, and Billy. There was no way they would allow Sam to continue as Alpha. She doubted he would be arrested; it wasn't as if she could say what had happened in a court of law. But the tribe had powers of its own. He would suffer some kind of consequence. Even if it wasn't strict enough to really satisfy her, surely she would be free of him soon.

But Sam knew this as well as she did. A slow grin spread across his face as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Oh, you don't think this is over, do you? No, no. That was just a little delay. This is just the beginning of a long eternity for you and I. The spirits gave you back to me. Don't you understand?"

She still couldn't speak, but now she could move. She balled her hand into a fist and aimed it at his face.

He caught the punch in his palm and slowly pushed it down. Calmly, he continued, "You don't, do you? Okay. In a minute I'm going to let you talk again. But you're not going to tell anyone what happened, not Paul, not your brother, not your mom, not Jacob. Nobody." She could feel the order tightening around her neck. "You're not even going to think about what happened. You're not going to show anyone in the pack mind. Do you know why? It's because you're going to forget what just happened. As far as you're concerned, I brought you out here to tell you not to screw around with Emily and me. You're not going to remember me telling you to break it off with Paul. You're going to break up with him because you think he's a pathetic, immature child, not because I ordered you to. You're going to tell him you were only with him to get back at me. What you'll remember isn't this conversation, or anything we've talked about since I phased tonight. All you're going to remember is that I told you no more pranks, no more insolence, no more disrespect. That's all. I didn't touch you. I didn't hurt you. I didn't kiss you. None of it happened. You won't remember it unless I want you to." He turned her fist over and brought it up, placing a disconcertingly gentle kiss to the back of her hand.

"You won't remember unless I want you to remember. But you will do what I say, when I say it. You will give me what I want, when I want it. You will give yourself to me: body, heart, mind, and soul. You're mine, Lee Lee. Forever."

X-x-x-x-X

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Babs81410.


	20. The Breakup

Leah turned in circles, blinking in confusion. Where was she? What was she doing out here? From the smell of things, she was on Cullen land. It wasn't unheard of, particularly since the coven leader had opened his territory to them, but why couldn't she remember how she had gotten there? As she tried to figure it out, she systematically undressed and tied her clothes to her ankle, phased, and then she set off to the east. She felt for the presence of her patrol partner in her mind, but there was no one. She was alone. That was unusual in itself, but she somehow knew that no one was in danger. A voice in the back of her brain told her to go find Paul, but her feet continued to carry her in the other direction.

As she trotted away from the stream, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Her heart started to pound, and her muscles tensed. She slowed, looked around, and sniffed the air. Something threatening was close, wasn't it? Was it Sam? She smelled his scent, and the thought of him made her stomach churn. But why should she be afraid of Sam?

She took a deeper breath. No, there was something else, something stronger, something more acrid. Something decayed. But it was still familiar. Whatever was here was no stranger. She knew that scent. She peered through the trees, searching for anything out of place, but there was nothing. Then she turned her eyes upward. If a vampire was going to attack her, it wouldn't run at her from the ground. It would drop on her from the trees.

And then she spotted it on a high branch: ashen white skin, pale yellow hair, and bright golden eyes staring right at her.

She knew this vampire, or she knew of her. Bella had spoken of her, but not in the worshipful, fawning manner that she used for the rest of the coven. This was the vain, haughty beauty who made Bella feel unwelcome. Leah and Rosalie stared at each other, neither moving. Leah growled low in her throat, not certain what to expect. Would the Cold One run from her? Try to run her off the land? Drop on her back and try snap her neck? Drain her blood?

The vampire did none of these things. She simply stared into Leah's eyes unblinkingly, her lips set in a stony frown, until Leah grew tired of the staring contest and went on her way. Rosalie turned just far enough to watch her go.

X-x-x-x-X

After her shift, Leah did as she was ordered, because she had no choice. Thanks to Sam's carefully plotted instructions, she even thought it was her own idea. As soon as she was free, she went to Paul's house. She caught him as he was leaving for school. He gave her a wide grin and opened his arms, and she resisted the urge to step into the embrace. He immediately sensed that something was wrong. "You okay?"

"Yeah, sure. It was just a long night."

"Did something happen? I know your brother found an unfamiliar vamp trail the other day, but I got the impression it was pretty far away."

She answered, "And pretty old. No, nothing like that."

"But you smell a little like a leech," he told her, wrinkling his nose.

"I did run into one of the Cullens last night. The blonde female."

"What happened?"

She shrugged. "Not much, to be honest. I was passing through their territory and I noticed her. She was just sitting in a tree watching me. It was weird."

"Did she say anything? Do anything?"

"No, she just watched me until I left."

"That's pretty creepy, actually."

She agreed. "Yeah. I don't think she blinked a single time. She hardly moved at all. It was really bizarre. I can't believe people are ever convinced that they're human."

"But you're okay?"

"Yeah. She didn’t do anything, so neither did I. I'm just kind of tired of night patrols, that's all."

He smiled at her. "Well, soon enough you can look forward to coming home to me. I think I know a few ways to put a smile on your face."

He reached for her, leaning in to kiss her. But she backed away. "Yeah, about that…"

"Do you think you can stay? I know it's not too interesting around here when I'm gone, but you could stick around. My dad's not here, as usual, so you'd have the place to yourself. Some peace and quiet, you know? There's leftovers in the fridge, and I'll be home in the afternoon. I don't have to patrol today, so we could…"

"No," she cut him off before he got any farther. "I don't think so. In fact, I'm not so sure that moving in is a good idea."

His face fell. "What? What are you talking about? It's a fantastic idea!"

"For who? I've been thinking about it…"

"What? For us, for fuck's sake. We get along great, we won't be disturbing your family, we can be as loud as we want, we don’t have to worry about coming and going at crazy hours. It's perfect!"

She took another step back. "Paul, let's be real. This has been fun, but it isn't exactly a real relationship. It's not like you're looking for something long term. Monogamy isn’t exactly your thing. Plus I'm an adult, and you're still in high school."

"What? We're less than three years apart. That's basically no difference at all. And I know that neither of us got into this thinking it was going to be a committed thing, but we already committed to each other without even thinking about it, because it's so good. Don't let some stupid shit about our ages get between us. We've got way more in common than we have differences. And I haven’t been with anybody else since we got together. I don’t want to."

She stared at a point over his shoulder, unable to look him in the eye. "You're not listening.  Look, this is been fun, honestly, but I let it get way too far. It's been great while it lasted, but…"

He interrupted, "Wait, you're not just talking about moving in, are you? Are you breaking up with me?"

She shifted her eyes to the ground and nodded nervously. "I… Yeah. Like I said, we had a good thing going, but…"

"Listen to yourself! We have a good thing going, not had! Yeah, maybe it was impulsive asking you to move in with me, but that doesn't make it a bad thing."

"I don't want to lead you on. It's not like this is really going anywhere."

He put his hands on his hips and gritted his teeth. She could see a muscle rhythmically bulging in his jaw. "According to who, Sam? I smell him on you too. I almost missed it because of that bleachy, nasty leech smell. Did he say something to you?" Her eyes shifted to his for only a second, but it was enough. He read her expression as clearly as if words were printed on her forehead. "Oh my God! He put you up to this, didn't he?"

She denied it. "No, he didn't. I just had time to think, that's all. When it was just casual, I didn't have to think about it. Hell, I tried not to think about it, and if I did, it was only to piss off Sam. But I realize I'm just using you to get back at him..."

"Babe," he interrupted with a snort, "Use me. I mean it. It's a pleasure to be of service. I will use you too, to get back at him, and we both win."

"I don't want to lead you on that way."

"You're not leading me on," he insisted. "It's not possible to use someone who knows what’s going on and agrees, and you're not leading me on, because I'm not under the mistaken impression that you're in love with me."

"Paul, don't make this harder than it needs to be. There really isn't anything between us."

"Bullshit! I don't believe that, and you know why?" He jammed one finger in the air, pointing at her. "Because I've been in your brain. I'm not just some kid, Leah. I'm your pack. I know you. And was part of the fun rubbing it in Sam's face? Of course! I was doing it too, because it was funny as hell, and the asshole deserves it. But there’s something else there, and you know it!"

She folded her arms across her chest, frowning at him. "You're not listening. You don't need to figure out how I feel, because I'm telling you. I'm trying to do it nicely, but I can't do that if you won't listen."

"Talk is cheap. And words can be put into your mouth," he said perceptively. "I know this is coming from Sam, not from you."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you honestly so arrogant that you couldn't possibly believe I'm just not that into you?"

He smirked at her. "Yeah, I am. Because I know you, just like you know me. And you’re into me even if you don’t want to admit it, almost as much as I’m into you.”

“Paul…”

“Nope. If you want me to believe all this, you're going to have to do better than this."

"What? How on earth am I supposed to do that?"

"You show me, not just tell me. Prove it," he challenged, hoping that his hubris didn't result in prolonging his humiliation.

She huffed, "Fine." Then she opened the front door and stalked outside. He followed her into the woods, blatantly staring at her as she undressed to phase. She spotted his lascivious look and demanded, "Are you seriously ogling me right now, when I'm trying to break up with you?"

He covered his nervousness with a mischievous grin. "Hey, if this is the last chance I get to look at you naked, I'm taking advantage."

She just shook her head and transformed into her wolf. He followed suit. They immediately realized they weren't alone. Jacob and Embry were on patrol. _Great,_ she sighed. _Now we've got an audience. Is that what you wanted? If you think I won't do this in front of the guys, you're mistaken._

Before Paul had a chance to respond, Embry noticed the tension between them. _Uh, do you maybe want a little privacy?_

Jacob wasn't so polite. _What's going on?_ he asked.

Paul snapped, _Get out of here for a bit._

_Is everything okay?_ Jacob wanted to know.

Leah answered, _It's fine. Just personal stuff._

Embry offered, _I sure as heck don't want to be in the middle of whatever fight you guys are having._

_Yeah, good point,_ Jacob agreed. _But are you sure you'll be okay?_

_Just give us a few minutes,_ Leah reassured them. As soon as they were gone, she turned to Paul. In a patronizing tone, she very slowly and clearly stated, _I am breaking up with you. Okay? Are we done?_

_No, we are not. You show me what he said to you,_ he demanded.

_He didn't say anything. This is just me._

_I don't buy it,_ he insisted.

She sighed audibly and said, _Don’t do this…_

But he wasn’t letting her go without a fight. _Nuh uh. I don't give up that easily._

_Really? Do any of the other girls you've been with think so? I think they'd say the opposite. Besides, what do you need me for? You can get a date by the end of the night if you want one._

He barked a surprised laugh. _I don't want one of those girls! And are you really comparing yourself to them? Whatever I had going with them wasn't worth arguing over, let alone fighting for. But you? You're different._

_I'll give you that, at least._ But she didn't mean it in the complimentary way he did. _I'm not exactly a normal girl._

_Exactly! Normal girls are boring. But you? You're something else. We're something else. What we have is different._

She tried to stop him again. _Paul..._

_No, you listen for a minute._

_I thought you wanted me to show you what I'm talking about!_ she protested. _Isn't that what you wanted? You're not letting me get a word in edgewise._

_That's because what you're going to say is stupid, and I'm not going to let you! I don't want to listen to why you want to break up. I want you to think about why we're good together. No, we're great together. It isn't just that we have crazy, off-the-charts chemistry. It isn't just that we know how to make each other laugh, or that there's hardly anybody else in the world that we can be honest with except for each other. It isn't only because the sex is fucking phenomenal, and neither of us has any interest in slumming it with pathetic humans from now on. You also wanted to move in with me to get out of your mom's house. I know you hated having to come back here after going off to college. You'd much rather have some privacy from your family. And yeah, you really like the idea of pissing off Sam just like I do. But that's not all. You fucking like me, just like I like you. You wanted to be with me yesterday, and I know that you didn't just have some weird change of heart that neither of us saw coming._

Paul probed her memory, and she unconsciously followed his train of thought. Neither of them could come up with an instance when she had seriously considered breaking up with him prior to the night before. _People do change their minds, you know,_ she said weakly.

_Bullshit. Sam said something to you._ He leaned into her personal space, inhaling deeply. _Hell, he didn’t just talk to you. He was all over you, wasn't he? What did he say to you? What did he do?_

She backed away. _Nothing! He didn't do anything! He just told me to respect him and Emily. He was pissed about the texts, but he didn't say anything about you. I'll prove it to you!_ She opened up her memories, detailing her thoughts and actions overnight, starting with her encounter with Rosalie. She showed him that she indeed had had a change of heart, and that she had thought about what to say to him all night long.

But Paul was paying close attention. She talked about Sam, but she didn't show a specific memory of him. _So where was he?_

_I told you. He told me not to screw around with him and Emily. He said, 'No more pranks, no more insolence, no more disrespect.' That's it._

_I asked you to show me, not tell me,_ he repeated, wondering why she kept telling him without revealing the specific memory. _Where were you when you talked? How did he find you? Was he yelling? Was it an Alpha order? What?_

Leah became irritated, but she couldn't answer his question. _Who cares? I told you what he said already. What do the details matter?_

_Because you're not making any sense, and I'm trying to figure out why._ Paul started circling her. It made her a little nervous, but she held still, refusing to be intimidated.

_Why were you alone? No one patrols alone. Where was Jared?_ He moved closer and closer until he was pressed against her. _Wasn't he supposed to be on last night?_

Leah began to answer vaguely, _Well, I guess… He must have…_

_Hah! You don't remember, do you? What happened last night, really?_ he challenged.

_I showed you!_ She recounted the night and excruciating, boring detail. But she couldn't come up with an explanation as to Jared's whereabouts, nor could she recall the specific moment that Sam had talked to her.

Her mind wasn't opening, so he used his other senses to gather information. _You don't just smell like the Cullen leech and like Sam._ He sniffed at her neck until she shoved her paw at his muzzle in irritation. _Why do you smell like blood? It's faint, but..._

_Nothing happened!_ she insisted.

_Somebody hurt you, or you hurt somebody but don't remember it, which I seriously doubt. Did that vamp do something to you, or was it that asshole?_

_Nobody did anything! Seriously. I'll show you the whole damn night._ She remembered every uneventful loop, the temperature, she scenery, the tedium, and every negative thought she had about him.

But Paul wouldn't let it go. _Bullshit. You know what else I see? Before your memory of seeing the creepy vamp hanging in that tree, the beginning of your shift is just gone. That whole chunk, nothing._

Leah briefly recalled her confusion at coming to awareness deep in Cullen territory, but she minimized its importance. _That doesn’t mean anything._

_Of course it does! Don't you think that's weird?_ _What happened? Something happened before that. What was it?_

She was becoming exasperated. _Give it up, Paul. Nothing happened. There's nothing to see, which is why you can't find anything._

_Leah, you just showed me hours of nothing. But there was still something in all the nothing. You know, trees, grass, the ocean. But there's this big gaping hole of actual nothing, including just about all of your conversation with Sam. And there has to be a reason you smell like blood._

_I probably scraped up against something and didn't notice,_ she tried.

Paul shook his head. _We heal fast, but we still get hurt first. It makes no sense that you wouldn't feel something sharp enough to make you bleed. Something happened, and I want to know what it is._

Now she was really irritated. _One day you're going to look back on this and be really embarrassed. You’ve had clingy girls hang on you after you were done with them. You think it’s pathetic, don’t you?_

_I’m not pathetic. I just care about you whether you want me to or not, and I know you care about me even if you're not willing to admit it._

She ignored the feeling in her gut that he was right. _You're not really taking this well, you know? Is it really so hard to believe that I don't want whatever this is? You're searching for some big, supernatural reason that I'm doing this. But there isn't one._

_Maybe not usually, but there is this time. And I'm certain that it isn't coming from you. It's coming from Sam._ He turned to leave.

_Where are you going?_

_To see the almighty Alpha,_ he said sarcastically.

She yelled out, _You're just going to humiliate yourself. At least keep your pride, and let this go!_

_No, the only person is going to be humiliated is him. That is, if I let him live._

X-x-x-x-X

"What the fuck did you do?" Paul grabbed Sam roughly by the collar and shoved him up against the wall of the cabin.

Sam broke the grasp and pushed him back. "Get your hands off me! And what the hell are you talking about, anyway?"

"To Leah? What did you do to Leah?"

Sam rolled his eyes and sighed. "I haven't done anything to her. She was fine the last time I saw her. Why, is she okay?"

Paul spat, "Don't play stupid with me. I know you did something to her."

"If you call talking to her doing something, then sure."

"You didn't just talk to her, and you know it. You hurt her," Paul accused, recalling the smell of iron on her fur.

Sam was indignant. "What? You're delusional."

"You're the one who's delusional," Paul countered. "I know you did something to her, and you talked her into it. Did you threaten her? Order her? What?"

Sam put his hands on his hips and leaned forward. "What the fuck are you accusing me of?"

"You know what I'm talking about!" Paul yelled.

"I do not," Sam maintained. "So either you tell me what's going on, or get out of my yard. I don't have time for whatever this is. And aren't you supposed to be in school right now?"

Paul pointed out, "If you actually cared about the pack getting an education, Jake and Embry wouldn't be on patrol right now. You would."

Sam started to go back into his house, trying not to think about the fact that he would have taken the daytime patrol had Emily not wanted him home that day. "That can't possibly be why you're harassing me. And since you're clearly not going to tell me, I'm going back inside."

Paul grabbed him by the arm. "Oh no, you don't. You're not going anywhere until you tell me what you did to her."

Sam yanked himself free. "Is this about those stupid texts from that asshole? All I did was tell her not to do it again. I told her to leave me and Emily alone. And I'll say the same to you. Now get out of here before I kick your ass."

"Try it, asshole. I'm not going anywhere until I find out what really happened."

"Then you're going to be out here a long time."

Sam moved to go inside, but Paul grabbed him by the wrist and twisted his arm behind his back, slamming him against the wood siding. "I'm happy to beat the information out of you, you liar. Just give me an excuse to rip you apart."

Sam growled, "As if you could."

Paul had Sam trapped: using his superhuman strength to free himself would only result in getting his own arm broken, because Paul wasn't going to let go, and Sam had no leverage. He retaliated instinctively, phasing into his enormous black wolf. His sharp claw raked across Paul's abdomen as he loosened himself.

The pain only fueled Paul's fury. He snarled and transformed just as Sam twisted around and shoved him back. Paul crashed against the porch railing, which splintered under his weight. But he righted himself before Sam could land on him, and he swiped at the larger wolf with his paw, opening Sam's shoulder. _Show me what you did!_ Paul demanded.

Sam gave no coherent answer as he reeled back, and Paul could tell he was shielding his thoughts as the larger wolf leapt at him. He caught Sam's foreleg in his jaw. His teeth tore into the flesh, but Sam freed himself before Paul could crush the bone.

But Sam was still off balance, so Paul took advantage and leapt. He knocked Sam over, and they rolled into the yard. His momentum carried him a little too far, however, and Sam landed on top. The Alpha swept his paw into Paul's muzzle, knocking his head to the side. Sam snapped his teeth at Paul's ear, but Paul twisted his neck and head-butted him instead. It wasn't enough to dislodge him, but the blow to his head disoriented Sam momentarily. Sam allowed an image of an angry Leah to flash in his brain. In the picture, she was yanking on her clothes.

_What the fuck was that?_ Paul demanded.

_None of your concern,_ Sam answered grimly as he tried to maneuver his jaws around Paul's neck. But Paul managed to curl his hind legs under Sam, and he shoved him away. Both wolves righted themselves and began to circle one another.

Sam concentrated on the battle, but it was too late. Now Paul was certain that something had happened. _If you hurt her, I'll kill you. Hell, I'll kill you anyway. I don't know what you've done, but you made her bleed. And for that, you're going to pay._

Sam continue to deny it. _You don't know what you're talking about. You're not going to figure anything out, because there's nothing to figure out. Just because she came to her senses and dumped your sorry ass, it doesn't mean that I had anything to do with it. She's a smart girl. She didn't need me to tell her that you're not worth her time._

Paul narrowed his eyes. _I didn't tell you that she dumped me. How did you know?_ No one yet knew what happened. Jacob and Embry were still absent from the pack mind. They were alone.

Sam froze, and another memory quickly flashed through his mind. Paul only caught a glimpse before it was shoved it away, but it was clear that Sam and Leah had been yelling at one another. Sam buried the thought and said, _We all share a brain, moron. How do you think I know? Plus, you didn't have to be psychic to see this one coming. You were never good enough for her, and she knows it._

Paul ignored the insult. _That's bullshit. You weren't phased in when she and I were talking, and before last night, she didn't think about breaking up at all._

_Of course she did! Why would she want to be with a pathetic little punk like you?_

_Because I make her happy, and because I'm way better at making her cum than you ever were!_

Paul displayed image after image of the orgasms he had given Leah, and Sam saw red. He flung himself at Paul. But Paul was ready, and he easily leapt out of the way. Sam pushed his paws into the dirt to stop his forward motion, but Paul was too fast. He leapt onto Sam's back and sank his teeth into the back of Sam's neck.

Sam howled in pain and reared back, trying to dislodge Paul. But Paul clung to Sam's torso and yelled, _Show me what you did! You made her bleed, didn't you? I'll kill you for hurting her!_

Paul hoped that Sam's control would slip and that he would reveal what had happened, but Sam's fighting instincts had taken over. His only focus was battling his opponent. Sam pushed back until he was close to a sturdy oak, and then he reared up on his hind legs, throwing himself backward. The action hurled Paul against the trunk. Paul flailed for purchase, and as Sam fell away from him, he managed to tear a section of Sam's flesh away. Sam snarled in pain as his front legs hit the ground, and he bucked his rear legs backward, slamming his hind paws into Paul's exposed abdomen.

Air rushed out of Paul's lungs with the blow, but Sam couldn't immobilize him with just his rear legs. Paul raked his claws along Sam's flank, and Sam jumped away. Paul didn't let him get far, tacking him from the side and sending him sprawling into the dirt. He tried to bite into Sam's jugular, but Sam lashed out with one paw, sweeping Paul's right foreleg out from underneath him. He stumbled, drawing blood from Sam's shoulder instead. Sam twisted around, freeing himself.

The black wolf slammed into Paul's side, trying to establish dominance. Sam tried to pin Paul down, yelling, _Submit!_ But it was not an Alpha order. He wanted to win outright.

Paul wasn't going down that easily. As Sam tried to bite at his throat, Paul twisted around. Sam lost his balance, and the two went tumbling. Sam landed on top and managed to open another claw mark across Paul's chest, but Paul kicked him off before any more damage could be done. This time Sam landed against a fallen log. Paul pounced before Sam could right himself and pinned Sam's left forearm against a branch. Sam protected his neck form Paul's jaws by using his free right claw to swipe at Paul's muzzle, so Paul aimed for a less deadly target. He braced Sam's other paw against the ground. Sam's shoulder was pinned on the branch, so when Paul slammed his weight onto the arm, the bone snapped with a clean break.

Sam howled in pain, but Paul didn't relent. He shoved his paw into the injured limb and yelled, _Tell me what happened!_

But Sam couldn't give him a coherent answer even if he wanted to. He was blinded with pain. He flung a string of curses at Paul. In between, Paul saw flashes of Leah's angry eyes and soft skin, but nothing that made any sense.

_Tell me!_ Paul repeated, this time biting into Sam's bared neck for emphasis. _Tell me what you did!_

But before he could do any further damage or get any information out of Sam, Jacob appeared. He had heard Sam's howl. _What the hell is going on? Is there a vamp?_

_There's no vamp, but I'm still fighting a monster!_ Paul told him.

_What the fuck are you doing? Sam? Paul? What's going on?_ Jacob asked. He had already figured out they were in the woods behind Sam's house, and he started to run.

_Leave us alone,_ Paul growled, and he drew blood from Sam's neck.

But Embry then appeared. _Guys? What's going on?_

_This motherfucker is going to tell me what he did,_ Paul answered, grinding his paw into Sam's broken bone.

Before Jacob or Embry could arrive, Sam had had enough. He realized there was no way he could best Paul physically, so he roared an order. _Back the fuck off!_

Paul had no choice. His jaw opened, and his weight pulled back. His limbs moved him away even as he protested, _You coward! Fight me, damn it!_

_You will submit to me!_ Sam ordered as he shakily stood on three legs.

Jacob asked again, _Guys, what's happening?_

Sam didn't answer. _Out! Phase out, and don't come back unless I tell you to. Except for you, Paul,_ he growled.

_Fight me, you sorry excuse of a wolf,_ Paul snarled as he felt his brothers disappear. _Give me everything you've got, Alpha. See if you can manage to stay alive._

Sam knew he had been beaten, but he was Alpha, and he didn't have to do anything he was told, especially not by a little punk like Paul. He locked away the memories Paul was trying so hard to see, and he ordered, _You will submit to me. I am your Alpha. I am the leader of this pack. I will do what I want, when I want, to whomever I want. And you will learn your place._

_You fucker, you're pathetic. You..._

_Silence!_ Sam roared. _You have the next shift, and you'll do it by yourself. Howl if you find a threat, but otherwise I don't want to hear anything out of your mouth until your shift is over. Speak to no one until someone comes to relieve you unless you’re calling for backup. And after that, you will only speak to me with respect. Now go. You've been distracting this pack from what we are really here for--protecting this tribe._

Paul was furious, but there was nothing he could do but watch. He did get a grim sense of satisfaction when he saw Sam wince and cradle his arm as he phased out and hobbled away.

X-x-x-x-X

 

  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Babs81410.


	21. Ambition

Emily looked at the small group one by one. Most of the council was absent for the last-minute meeting, Billy Black and Sue Clearwater most conspicuously. "This can't go unpunished."

"It won't," Old Quil reassured her.

"They should be removed from the pack," she declared.

Sam's head snapped up. He would be thrilled if Paul disappeared, but there was no way he was letting Leah go now that he had her back. He wasn't about to relinquish his authority over her. He cleared his throat. "We have to think of the other boys. If we lose two members, it means everyone else has to pick up their slack. We're stretched too thin. The others would have to drop out of school. We can't afford to take Paul and Leah off patrol. Besides, why should Leah be removed from the pack because Paul can't control his temper?"

"It's her fault as much as it is his," Emily insisted.

Kevin Littlesea asked, "How so? Did she tell him to attack Sam?"

"Of course not." Sam frowned. "He ran off half cocked when she broke up with him."

Old Quil agreed with Sam. "And removing them from the pack only means that the remaining members suffer. That hardly seems fair."

Emily frowned. "But they can't be allowed to get away with this. Paul's out of control. Look what he did to you!"

Sam's cheeks burned with humiliation. Did she need to let everyone know that he had been bested? "I'm perfectly capable of handling a hot headed child like Paul. I'm giving him extra patrols as punishment, and if he attacks he again, I'm not going to hold back when I defend myself. He's lucky I was trying not to hurt him."

Old Quil tried to placate him. "That's very magnanimous of you, Samuel. But help me understand. It was Paul alone who became violent, was it not? How is Miss Clearwater responsible?"

Emily snapped, "She's a destructive force inside the pack. She creates chaos around her. It was her fault that Paul got so worked up in the first place."

"In what way?" Kevin asked.

Emily explained, "She was stringing him along. She lured him into an inappropriate relationship..."

"Inappropriate?" asked Finn Fuller.

Emily insisted, "She took advantage of him. He's a teenager, and she's an adult. She should know better. Instead, she toyed with him, made him think they were in a real relationship, but she was just playing him all along."

Mr. Fuller began, "Is that really…"

But Emily cut him off. "Reverse the genders. If it was an older man seducing a teenage girl, you would have his head." No one argued with her, and Mr. Fuller started to worry for his young son. He was already anxious enough that Brady might phase. Before anyone could come up with Leah and Paul's respective ages and dispute her assertion, she continued, "And now she's dumped him, and he lost it. He attacked his Alpha! Now we're seeing the consequences of her actions. Paul wanted to kill Sam. She's as responsible for that as he is. Plus, they never should have been together in the first place. They're not imprinted."

"Not everyone imprints," Kevin pointed out. "It's quite rare, usually."

"But if they were supposed to be together, they would have imprinted on each other. Two protectors? The spirits would have sent some kind of a sign if they were supposed to be together," Emily refuted. "Just think of it. What would happen if one of them were to imprint on someone else? Just think of the trouble it would cause if they were still together. I'll say this at least: Leah did put an end to it before it went any farther. It's just too bad she let it happen in the first place. That shows pretty bad judgement on her part."

"She must be lonely," mused Finn.

Emily wiped the angry expression of her face and blinked innocently. "Lonely? Why? Her mother and brother both know what's going on. She and I have always been close. We've been best of friends since we were little children. I'll always love her, no matter what, and she knows that. And she still has Sam, just in a different way. And the whole pack supports her. We all do. She’s luckier than most, really. We just want what's best for her."

Sam examined the elders closely. Did anyone else notice the complete reversal in her tone? Just a moment ago she was advocating banishment for Leah, but now she claimed to love her. It wasn’t within his power to reprimand his imprint, but would anyone else? But no one else noticed, or if they did, they said nothing. Old Quil actually patted Emily's hand and murmured, "As do we all."

Emily squeezed his hand gratefully, and when he let go, she cupped her hands over her chest. "I couldn't stand it if she got her heart broken again. Sam and I hate that we hurt her, and we wish there was a way to prevent it. But the spirits willed that we be together, and we had no choice. But this time, she should have known better than to get involved with another shifter. That’s why I’m so upset. It’s so hard to see her hurting, and this whole relationship had disaster written all over it."

Old Quil agreed. "I agree. Her judgement is quite poor. Paul is young and foolish, but she really has no excuse."

Emily tried to hide a smug smile. "Yes. That's why she has to understand that she needs to stay away from romantic attachments."

Kevin asked, "Didn't she already break up with Paul? I'm not sure there's a problem that still needs fixing, other than perhaps some discipline for Paul. And it sounds as if Sam has that well in hand."

"Yes." Emily nodded. "But I know my cousin. She craves male attention. She's going to seek out other men, and if she doesn't get what she wants, she'll go after Paul again, and he isn't strong enough to resist her. We can't let that happen. They'll both just get hurt in the process, and they could take the pack down with them."

"I don't understand," Kevin countered. "What are you trying to say? They already ended their relationship. So why are we still discussing it?"

"Because they can't be allowed to resume it if she changes her mind," Emily explained. She was glad that Sam had forced Paul and Leah apart, but if they found a way around his order, or if they learned that the idea was hers, she wanted the council to back her up.

"Nor should she be allowed to see anyone else," Sam added. Emily's eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't expecting him to go that far, and she didn't know why he would suggest such a thing.

Finn asked, "Why? We let the male members of the pack date girls so long as they don't reveal the secret."

"This is different," Sam said, hoping his flimsy logic would hold. "Paul tried to kill me over Leah. Can you imagine what he might do to a human man in a fit of jealousy? We can't risk it."

Kevin frowned. "Is it really our businesses to interfere with her private life?"

"Since it puts the pack's safety at risk," Sam said somberly, "it is. Attacking me was the least of it. I can handle Paul. He's no threat to me. But he's irrational on a good day. Any human man she becomes involved with would be at risk from Paul. And even if it weren't for that, she should wait for her imprint. I know Leah. If she commits herself to someone, but then meets her imprint and has to break the other man's heart, she will hate herself forever. I don't want her to go through that. I only want what’s best for her."

Kevin started to respond, but Old Quil cut him off. "That shows a lot of foresight, Samuel. It's settled, then. Do you want to tell her?"

Emily piped up. "She won't like that. Not at all. Especially not coming from Sam. If she thinks it’s coming from him, she’ll never accept it.”

"Then I will tell her," Old Quil offered, "on behalf of the council. She is to stay away from Paul as well as any other romantic partnerships until she imprints."

Sam smiled triumphantly. He knew she would never imprint, because the spirits had returned her to him. She was his, just as she was meant to be.

On the way out, Emily slipped her arm into his and murmured, "That went well, didn't it?"

He agreed. "Now Paul won't be able to go over my head. Even if he figures out I ordered it, I can say the council agreed that they shouldn't be dating each other. It was a good idea. Thank you."

"Of course. That's what I'm here for. We make a good team. But why not let Leah see other men? It seems like a good way to keep her out of our hair. And won't the others protest at not being allowed to date?"

He glanced down at her, trying to gauge her reaction. "It isn't meant to apply to them. Just her."

Emily tried to hide a smile. "Ah. She'll complain about double standards."

He shrugged. "Let her complain. She has to learn that there are consequences to her actions. She's the only one who disrupted the pack this way..."

"Um, and Paul. She didn't screw everything up all by herself. Not to mention Jacob. His relationship with Bella is no good for the tribe, considering how close she is to the Cullens."

Sam tried to change the subject. "That's exactly why I need to stay in control of the pack. I know that Billy thinks his son will be Alpha someday, but it's clear that his judgment is clouded by his relationship with the Swan girl. He isn't objective enough or mature enough to lead. So the responsibility falls to me. And you know as well as I do that I have to keep everyone in line, Paul and Leah especially."

Emily contemplated the meaning behind his words, and she realized she was in support. She quite liked the idea of being married to the Alpha, and hopefully, the future chief. “The pack is very lucky to have you. You’ve done an amazing job with them so far. I know that Billy thinks Jacob will take over someday, but that might not be a very good idea. The pack and the tribe are safer under your leadership. But as for Paul, are you going to restrict him from dating as well? If her bad relationship decisions have jeopardized the pack, surely his judgment is just as bad. Does he wait for his imprint too?"

Sam was tempted by the idea. In fact, he wondered if he ought to enforce such a rule for all the shifters. If they had to wait for their imprints, they would never have to go through the kind of breakup that he did when he imprinted on Emily. Even so, such a rule would be a very unpopular. And unless Paul imprinted on another woman immediately, he would continue fixating on Leah. Sam would much rather he turn his attentions elsewhere, leaving Leah to Sam. The sooner he forgot about Leah, the better. "I suppose that would seem the most fair, but the more I think about it, I don't think that would work. She is fundamentally different. Unique. I really think she needs to wait for her imprint. Ideally, everyone would. But the fact is that most shifters don't imprint. Most of them would wait for someone that would never appear. It's one thing to ask the only female shifter in the history of the tribe to be patient, to fulfill the role the spirits have destined for her. But asking the same thing of the boys, well, we simply can't make that comparison. If history is any indication, most of them won't imprint at all. Then they'd wait for nothing and no one. No, we must treat her differently because she really is different."

"She'll hate it," Emily pointed out. "Not that that should stop you, not if you think it's the right thing to do."

"I do."

"And Paul? He's been just as much trouble as she has. I don't think giving him extra patrol will keep him in line."

"I know," he agreed. "I just need him to stay out of my way. He needs distraction, and for him, there is no better distraction than a pretty girl."

This time Emily actually grinned. Leah would hate watching Paul with other women. "You're right, of course. He needs to move on from Leah as quickly as possible. Maybe we can set him up with someone, you know, as a peace offering?"

"Hmm. That's not a bad idea. But you know, he'd tell Adriana Lima to go screw herself if he thought I sent her."

She squeezed his arm. "So maybe he doesn't have to know you're involved..."

He smiled at Emily. There was a reason the spirits had sent her to him, wasn't there? "What do you have in mind?"

X-x-x-x-X

Old Quil didn't wait for approval from the rest of the council, dismissing Finn Fuller and Kevin Littlesea as well. He called the Clearwater house as soon as he was alone, summoning Leah to the council hall. She made her way slowly, yawning and grumbling to herself about being awakened. Though she was used to staying up all night long, she still had a hard time resting during the day, no matter how tired she was. When the phone rang, she had finally fallen into a satisfying dream.

The details were fuzzy, but some things she recalled clearly: a rakish smile from Paul, the sensation of his calloused hands on her skin, his soft, searching lips, his breath on her neck. He had murmured something into her ear with low, rumbling tones, but whatever it was, it was gone. His words were lost to the shrill ringing of the telephone, and for some reason, that saddened her. She thought about it as she walked, wondering what he was about to say. For some reason, she couldn't put it out of her mind. Why was that? Why did she want to know what Dream Paul was going to tell her? It wasn't real. He wasn't real. But she couldn't stop thinking about him. She could ask him outright. She could tell him that he had come to her in her sleep, but she awakened before he could talk. She might jokingly ask him to tell her what he was going to say. He would laugh with her, and then he would lick his lips and contemplate an answer. The corners of his eyes would crinkle with a smile, and he would tease that he would never wake her in the night just to talk, and he would whisper something scintillating and naughty.

She frowned at herself. Why was she thinking like this? Why was she thinking about him at all? She hadn't been able to put him out of her mind after he ran off to confront Sam. Part of her was annoyed at his brash insistence that something had happened to her and that Sam was somehow responsible. But she had the nagging feeling that he was right. And she was flattered that he wasn't giving up on her. After being dumped so unceremoniously by Sam, Paul's attention was a nice change of pace. In fact, a lot of things about Paul had surprised her in a good way. They shared the same sense of humor, he was much smarter than she would have guessed, and the chemistry between them was explosive. But what really shocked her was how much he genuinely seemed to care for her. How did that happen? How was it that he, a notorious womanizer, had skipped from bickering to hooking up, didn’t bother with dating, and suddenly asked her to move in with him? What was he thinking? And why had she said yes? Paul seemed to think that they were good together, great together, and could be even more. For a fleeting, hopeful, ridiculous moment, she had seen it too. When she said yes, and for a little while after, she had felt positively giddy. Her heart fluttered in her chest, her pulse raced, and she found herself with silly, involuntary grins plastered on her face at inopportune moments. These were emotions she thought she had lost. But Paul had somehow pulled them out of her again. She had actually felt happy, even amidst the chaos that her life had become.   
  
Leah sighed heavily. Why was she doing this to herself? Why did she want to talk to him? Why did she want to hear him laugh? Why did she want to crawl into his bed? She had broken up with him because he was a child and she was not, not the other way around. So why was she pining after him like a lovelorn schoolgirl?

She hadn't figured anything out by the time she arrived at the council hall, but Old Quil managed to distract her from her musings. He faced her with an obsequious smile and said the council had met to discuss her unique position in the pack and within tribal history. She was surprised and wondered why her mother hadn't told her. He neglected to explain that her mother was neither informed nor invited. Instead he spoke of duty, responsibility, and honor. He rambled on about their legends, the Cold Ones, Taha Aki, the Third Wife, and their descendants. He talked in circles while she tried to figure out why she was there, avoiding her questions and ignoring her interjections. And when she was thoroughly bored and completely confused, he calmly explained that she was to avoid any further romantic entanglements.

She rolled her eyes and asked him if he was talking about Paul. He answered that he referred to Paul and Sam both. She explained that she had already split with Paul, and she asked if she was supposed to have somehow foreseen Sam's imprint when they fell in love with him as children. He told her that no one could have predicted what happened to Sam, but she should have known better regarding Paul. She got irritated and told him that she was no longer seeing him. He reassured her that she had done the right thing, and he cautioned against making the same mistake twice.

Leah thought they were done, so she got up to leave. As she reached for the door handle, the elder clarified that she was not only to avoid Paul in the future, but men in general. She was to wait for her imprint, and until then, she must keep her distance from human men and fellow pack mates alike. Leah squeezed the handle so hard that it bent under her hand. She didn't turn around, but instead quietly asked him to repeat himself. He ingratiatingly told her the council had discussed how important and unique she was in the history of the tribe, and they had decided that she should embrace the fate that the spirits had in store for her. At first she thought that perhaps he knew something, that he had done some research or learned why she was the first woman to phase. She questioned him, intrigued. But no, he knew nothing. He only meant that she should wait patiently for the spirits to send her imprint, and until then, she would fulfill her role as protector. It wasn't safe to do otherwise. She asked if the same was being asked of the rest of the pack. He sidestepped the question. Instead he fed her useless speculation, condescending words, and poorly masked lies. The longer they spoke, the more frustrated she became. As she became increasingly agitated, he insisted that her imprint would be sent to her when the time was right. She answered that she would rather be alone forever instead of lose her mind and soul to imprinting. He chuckled and reminded her that it wasn't up to her. Finally she laughed and asked how he planned to keep her from seeing whomever she wanted. He smugly answered that the council spoke through Sam's voice, and she would obey her Alpha.

Leah stormed off before his arrogant, sexist words could trigger her to phase. She stopped in the tree line, sucking in deep gulps of air in an attempt to stay calm. She couldn't believe the old man's arrogance. How was her personal life any of his business? Bad enough that they trapped her here and stopped her from finishing her education. Did they have to isolate her too? There was no longer any justification for preventing her from getting a job, but she still couldn't do that either. Then she wondered if her mother agreed with Old Quil's decree. He claimed to speak on behalf of the council, and she was hurt and angry that her mother might have known what was going on and did nothing to prevent it. The least she deserved was a warning.

She immediately called Sue at work. Her mother was quite busy, and she barely had time to say that she was informed of no gathering and that she had no idea what Old Quil was talking about. Leah had to stop herself from crushing her phone in her hand. She paced restlessly in the woods, wanting to hit something, scream at someone, or both. But there was no one. Talking to Old Quil was like shouting at a brick wall. Not to mention, his timing made no sense. Why didn't he tell her to break up with Paul before she had already broken up with him? It was too suspicious. She needed answers, and there was only one person who might be willing to give them to her.

Paul had just gotten home and was stepping out of the shower. He was toweling off his hair and trying to figure out what to tell his math teacher when he went to school the next day; he had missed a calculus exam due to his last-minute patrol, and he was out of excuses she might believe. But the second he heard Leah's knock, the concern flew out of his brain. He was surprised to see her, but he quickly stepped back and gestured for her to come in. He read her easily and knew by her expression that she was upset. "Leah? Everything okay? Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head and tried to tell him "no", but nothing came out. What was going on?

He knew something bad must have happened, so he probed, "Is there a vamp? Is anyone in danger?"

Now words came easily. "No, that's not it. Everyone's safe."

"Oh, good. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary on patrol."

"Good," she answered. "I'm on in a few hours with Jared."

He walked to the kitchen, tightening the towel around his waist. He could feel her eyes on his back. "I know. Um, do you want some food? I'm making spaghetti."

"No, I..."

He turned around when her voice trailed off, and he caught her looking at his half-naked body. He could have sworn he saw a blush beneath her tan cheeks. He smirked, hoping she had come to her senses and changed her mind about them. "Getting a little distracted there, huh? Wanna see what's under the towel?" He put his hand on the knot and winked at her.

She frowned and blinked several times. He looked as sexy as always, but she was looking at the healing welts and bruises across his skin. "Not... that's not..."

He leaned against the counter, folding his arms over his chest. His grin widened. "I don't mind if you stare a little. I'd be flattered even if I didn't already know how hot you think I am."

But Leah just shook her head again. She looked like she was going to say something, but after several seconds, all she did was growl incoherently. Then she started to pace.

He straightened up. "Leah? What's going on?"

She shook her head in frustration. She didn't know what was going on. She had to believe that Paul's confrontation with Sam had something to do with it. She still didn't know what had happened, and she wanted Paul to tell her. She had every intention of demanding an explanation, but she couldn't force the words out of her throat. All she managed was, "What happened?"

"What happened with what?" he asked. "You mean me and Sam?" She stopped pacing and nodded. "Oh. Well, I kicked his ass. Broke his arm. He did something to you, you know that, right? I couldn't figure out exactly what, but I got glimpses of him with you. Just flashes, not enough to know what was going on. I'm pretty sure they're from that part of the day you can't remember. He's gotten good at blocking his thoughts, though. Have you remembered anything?" Leah shook her head again. He was disappointed, but not surprised. "Well, he was acting shady as fuck. I'm going to figure out what's going on. I promise. He was a total coward. Once I had him pinned and broke his arm, he was too chicken to keep fighting me. I'd have killed him if he hadn't Alpha ordered me off him." Leah's mouth formed a little 'o', but she remained silent, so he continued, "He took Jake and Embry off patrol and put me on, so I missed school today."

Leah didn't answer, so he decided to give her time. She would talk when she was ready. He was just relieved that she had come at all. After what she had said that morning, he wasn't sure when he would have the chance to get her alone again. Maybe he could convince her to have dinner with him before her shift. He filled a pot with water and set it on a burner, and then he pulled ground beef out of the refrigerator and browned it in a pan. Leah started pacing behind him again, and from the way she moved and the expression on her face, she was growing agitated. He peeked at her from the corner of his eye and said, "I don't have time to make homemade. Or any ingredients, for that matter. But the jarred stuff will do. You should stick around. I'll have more than I can eat." She didn't answer, so he blathered on about meaningless things while he cooked and waited for her to speak.

Several minutes later, the sauce was simmering on the stove, the pasta was done, and she still hadn't told him why she had come. All she did was grunt or gesture in response to his monologue. Finally he just asked her why she was there. "Not that I mind your company, or anything. I like having you here. You know that. But just a few hours ago I was pretty sure you wanted nothing to do with me. What gives?"

Leah was seated at his kitchen table with her hands balled into fists. Her jaw was tight, and she was trembling. Her mouth opened and closed several times. "I... I..."

Now he was genuinely concerned. "What's going on?"

Leah simply couldn't tell him. She had been struggling to come up with words the entire time, but she simply couldn't. She formed entire speeches in her mind, but all that came out of her mouth were puffs of hot air.

Paul kneeled on the floor beside her and reached for her clenched fist. She yanked her hand back abruptly, and he tried not to be hurt at the way she recoiled from him. But then he saw her open her hand and reach out. He extended his once more, but again she pulled back. He was getting exasperated. "Why are you... Do you just want me to go away? Why'd you come to see me, then?" he asked and stood. Leah didn't answer, but she looked alarmed and started gesticulating with her hands. Understanding slowly dawned on him. Maybe she wanted him to stay still. He knelt back down, his hands on his knees. "Is this okay?" Now he watched her carefully. She took a deep breath and moved her hand forward carefully. He wanted to lean forward or take her hand, but he let her come to him. Her fingers froze only millimeters from his skin. "Jesus, you can't, can you?"

Leah nodded vigorously, looking relieved. Thank goodness he understood, because she did not.

"Did he order you not to talk to me? Not to touch me? Is that what happened?"

Leah searched her memory and recalled no such order, so she shrugged and shook her head.

"Then why can't you talk? Do you want to phase together and show me that way? Did you remember something?"

It would have been a good idea had Sam not been phased in at that very moment. She didn't know exactly why, but the thought of facing him made her nauseated. "Sam's on patrol," she managed.

Paul's eyes widened, and he reached for her. But she scooted back again. "Wait, so you can talk. Tell me what's going on!" She tried to, but couldn't. Instead she snarled in frustration and balled up her fists again. But Paul wasn't simply going to give up. "Okay, okay. So you can't say much, and we can't phase right now because Sam is there. Look, I don't know what's happening, but I'm sure that prick is behind it. You remember that first night we got together? It's like that, isn't it? Neither of us could say anything. We just had to fight when he told us to, and I couldn't even apologize while I was doing it. This has to be his fault." Paul ran to his room to put on a pair of shorts and yelled over his shoulder, "I don't know how to get around an Alpha order, and neither do you, apparently. But there's one guy who kind of managed it before. Come on. Let's go see Jake." He led her out the door.

Leah's restrained words exploded out of her as soon as Jacob was in sight. He was coming out of his garage. "Something's wrong!" she yelled.

He wiped off his hands and tossed the rag into a bucket. "Is there a vamp?"

Paul answered, "No. But there's a still a dangerous monster out there."

Jacob started to unbutton his shorts so that he could phase, but Leah stopped him. "Wait, hold up. We need to talk in private."

"Oh. Then let's stay out here. My dad's in the house."

A stormy expression overtook Leah's face. "No, I think I want a word with him. He needs to tell me why he thinks he and the council get to take over my whole life." She jogged toward the house.

Jacob looked after her and asked Paul, "What's she talking about, man?"

"I don't know," Paul answered. "She can't tell me. Like, she literally can't talk to me, not much anyway. I think Sam issued an order about touching me and speaking with me."

"Oh. Is that what she told you?"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Dumbass, what did I just say? She can't talk to me. But it's his fault, I'm sure. When she tries to put her hand on me, it's like she's pushed away. Sort of... you remember physics? It's like we're magnets, but the wrong way. Two negative poles or positive poles repel each other. Like that. It isn't natural, the way she can't get too close to me. And she wants to talk, but she can't."

Jacob looked toward the house where Leah was shouting at his father. "Voice sounds okay to me."

"Pretty sure she's allowed to talk to other people, just not me. And she was able to say a few things. The patrol schedule, for one. Just not much more."

"But she can talk to other people."

Paul nodded. "I want to see if she has to stop when I get close. Come on."

Leah was in the kitchen yelling at a confused Billy. "Where the hell does the council get off? It really isn't enough that I had to drop out of school, can't get a job, and take half the damn patrol shifts myself. Now my private life is somehow everyone else's business? Please, justify that to me!"

Billy was finally able to get a word in. "My dear, I really do not know what you are talking about."

"So it wasn't your idea that I can't date anyone until my imprint shows up?"

Paul asked, "Is that why you broke up with me?"

Billy spoke at the same time. "No! Where did you get that idea?"

Leah looked at Paul, but she answered Billy. "Old Quil fed me some line about embracing my destiny, waiting for the man the spirits are going to send me, and not getting involved with anyone before then. Not Paul or anyone else. He said it was the council's decision."

"Is that the new rule? That we can't date anyone except imprints?" Jacob asked, thinking of Bella. Embry wasn't going to like it either; he had been dating the same girl on and off for the past year. "That's bull."

"Nobody said anything to me about other girls," Paul said.

Billy was frowning. "To be honest, we've discussed it before. Particularly after your own relationship with Sam ended so badly," he glanced at Leah, "we wondered if we should create such a rule to prevent those kinds of messes. But we decided not to. Even if we agreed that it was fair, which is clearly isn't, it would be counterproductive to the future of the pack. After all, imprinting is supposed to be rare. If the only shifters who have children are the ones who imprint, the gene would die out in a few generations. Packs would dwindle and the ability to shift might disappear entirely."

Leah gritted her teeth. "So how come I'm supposed to wait for my non-existent imprint to show up?"

Billy shook his head. "So far as I know, you can do whatever you want. Old Quil told you otherwise?"

"He told me that the council had met and decided. I talked to my mom, and she didn't have any idea what I was talking about either. And neither do you, so..."

Paul pointed out, "And he's the chief! I'd say he overrules the rest of the council."

"Ah," Billy nodded. "I think I know what this is about. I don't overrule the council. Everyone has an equal vote."

"But you're the chief!" Paul exclaimed.

"I was elected to be chief of the council," Billy explained. "Someone else can be voted in. It isn't an inherited position anymore, and Old Quil has always been ambitious, and he had some very old-fashioned views about women's roles. He can’t stand that a woman is one of our warriors, or that a woman can hold a seat on the council. But he can’t really say that out loud, now can he? Not if he wants to win in a democratic election. This is his chance, though. He's going to try to use this politically."

"Wait," Jacob said. "So this is all his idea?"

"I'll bet it's his and Sam's," Paul speculated. "It makes Sam crazy that we are... were... together." He held Leah's gaze, hoping that they could find a way back to each other.

Leah broke her eyes away and spoke to Jacob and Billy. "I asked Old Quil how the council was planning on stopping me from dating, and he said that the council speaks through my Alpha's voice, and I have to obey."

"He's done it already," Paul pointed out. "Before, when he made us fight each other, wouldn't let us talk. The only reason I didn't kill him earlier is because he ordered me off him. And now he's ordered Leah not to talk to me or touch me. He must have ordered her to break up with me, too."

"Is that true, Leah?" Billy asked.

"I don't know," she admitted.

Paul interjected, "That fucker did something to her, and then he wiped it out of her brain somehow. There's this missing chunk of time in her memory, and when I confronted him, he was obviously hiding something. He said something to her that he doesn't want her to remember, and I think he did something to her too. She smelled like blood this morning, and she can't remember why."

Billy narrowed his eyes. "What do you remember?"

"I remember that while I was patrolling, I decided that I had to break up with Paul. That's all."

"But there's a whole chunk of time she can't account for," Paul said. "And now she can't talk to me, or not much, anyway. And look." He reached his hand toward her arm, and she immediately backed away.

Billy was confused. "What are you doing? I don't think she wants you in her personal space."

But Leah shook her head and said to Billy, "No, it's okay. He's right." She put her hand up in an attempt to touch his fingers. She came within millimeters, but she was unable to close the distance. "I can't. I literally can't touch him."

"This is fucked up!" Paul growled. "It's none of his god damned business what we do. He lost the right when he slept with her skank of a cousin."

Jacob frowned. "Not to mention, what happens if we get in a fight with vamps, or something, and she gets hurt and you can't help her up? Or the other way around? That's dangerous!"

"If this is really due to Sam," Billy said somberly, "I really question his judgement."

"He's lost his fucking mind!" Paul's voice rose. "We have to stop him. And it was bad enough when it was just him and his damn imprint."

"But now it looks like he's joined forces with some of the council."

Leah asked, "You think Old Quil wants your job, huh?"

"Too bad I'm not ready to give it up," Billy laughed grimly.

Leah's hopes began to rise, as did Paul's. Despite how angry he was, he smiled at her, and then he started to ask how Billy and Jacob could help them. But before he could finish his question, a distant howl rang out. "That's an alarm," Jacob told his father as he made for the door.

Billy nodded and said, "Go," pointing at the dark forest.

X-x-x-x-X

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry about the delay between chapters. This story isn’t on any kind of a hiatus, nor am I taking any specific breaks. I just don’t have much time to write. Large chunks of the story are actually recorded while I dictate into my phone during my commute to and from work! But I do promise that this story will continue to be regularly updated, and it will be completed.


	22. The Enemy of My Enemy

Sam and Seth were already phased in when they arrived. They could see the densely wooded forest rushing by as Sam sprinted. The putrid, sharp scent of a vampire filled his nose. _Tell us what's going on,_ Jacob urged.

Seth turned to reveal what lay behind him: the lifeless, bloody corpse of a young man, his eyes open and staring sightlessly at the canopy above, his body bent at an unnatural angle where he lay in the dirt.

_Shit,_ Paul breathed. He was furious with Sam, but he would set aside his anger for the sake of their common goal.

Sam said, _I'm northeast of Cullen territory. Come join me as fast as you can. We're going after Victoria. Seth, stay with the body._ Leah sighed with relief. She had lost all respect for Sam, but she was grateful that he wasn't sending her brother to the front lines. Seth would have protested, but he was too distraught by the sight of the young man.

_We're headed your way. What happened?_ Leah asked. As confused as she was, she would sort out her feelings later. She ignored the uneasy feeling that formed deep in her gut at the sound of Sam’s voice.

Jared and Embry phased in as Sam began to speak. _Embry, head my way as fast as you can. Jared, head for Seth's position. We were on a routine patrol going east along the northern border. Seth was a bit behind me. We smelled blood, so we went looking. That's when I found him. And by the smell of things, the red-headed leech is responsible. Although I think I also smelled one of the Cullens. I want the two of you to search the area. Make sure we didn't miss any vamp trails, and if you find anything, follow it. I don't want to focus all our attention on Victoria in case there are others in the area._

_The Cullens are creepy fuckers. I wouldn't put it past them to break the rules of their little diet,_ Paul said grimly.

_I don't trust them either,_ Jacob answered as he sprinted after Leah. _But we should be able to tell pretty easily, right? Their eyes are a different color._

Jared was skeptical. _I don't know. It was one thing when they were all in school. Didn't a few of them graduate last year? Has anybody seen them lately? Been able to see their eyes?_

Jacob answered, _The little psychic and the mind reader are the only ones that still show up to school. And the doctor is always easy to find in the hospital. But the others? God only knows what they're up to._

Leah pulled away from Jacob and Paul, running at top speed. She said, _Well, the last time I saw one of them, it was the blonde, and her eyes were definitely golden._

_That's assuming that she wasn't wearing colored contacts,_ Paul pointed out. _Hell, they all could be. The fact that we can't see human blood in their eyes really doesn't prove anything._

_I don't even understand how that works,_ Embry commented. _It's not like animal blood is yellow or gold or something. Why does it produce a different color?_

Sam didn't know. _Not a clue._

Seth sniffed at the ground and asked, _But you're sure that this other scent belongs to one of the Cullens?_

_I'm sure,_ Sam replied. _All Cold Ones smell like death, but in different ways. The Cullens smell like congealed, rotting animal blood, plus a bunch of other chemicals. It's absolutely disgusting._

Embry asked, _Do you think you could identify which one of them was there?_

Sam answered, _I think any of us could, if we sniffed out the trail and then got a chance to get close to the coven. Our noses would do the rest, figure out which scent belonged to whom. It’s definitely not the doctor. On top of the rotting animal smell, he smells like a hospital._

Leah added, _The blonde chick smells like someone doused a dead animal in a can of hairspray and nail polish._

_We’ll have to find an excuse to get close, distinguish each of their scents,_ Jacob decided.

Soon Jared found Seth where he waited by the corpse, trying not to stare at it. Jared agreed with Sam's assessment. _You're right. There's no question this guy was killed by a vampire. You can smell it all over him, not to mention this completely obvious bite mark on his neck. Why don’t they cover their tracks better? If they’re supposedly so concerned about people figuring out that vampires exist, you’d think they’d do a better job hiding the cause of death._ He bent over the body. _Poor guy. He’s still really warm. Hasn’t been dead long. Victoria was definitely here, but so was one of the Cullens, just like Sam said. From the way he reeks, they got really up close and personal._

_Who, Victoria?_ Seth asked.

_Not just her,_ Jared explained. _It really smells like both vamps on his skin._

Seth speculated, _Maybe the Cullen tried to help. Maybe they ran her off, and that's why the body is just out here like this._

_It's possible,_ Jared answered skeptically. He sniffed in circles around the clearing. _But Victoria's trail heads off east, while the other one goes southwest. If the Cullen tried to chase her off, he went the wrong way._

_They probably went to get Carlisle, see if there was anything he could do to help,_ Seth tried.

Jared didn't think so. _Then where are they?_

Sam instructed, _Check the area thoroughly. Make sure we haven't missed anyone or anything. And then follow the Cullen trail. But don't let them know you're following them. Don't get spotted, and don't talk to them until I get back._

After that, conversation dwindled until Sam caught a glimpse of Victoria's bright red hair. She darted between the trees ahead of him. _She’s not getting away this time._

Jacob said, _Sam, we're catching up to you, but even Leah isn't quite there yet. And Embry is still a couple minutes behind me and Paul._

Sam answered grimly, _Doesn’t matter. I’m taking her down. I’ve had enough of her_. He lunged forward with a renewed burst of energy.

Victoria heard him coming, and she turned to flash a taunting grin at him. “Hello, puppy. Did you come to play?” Sam snarled at her in response. She didn’t break stride as she made her way through the forest. Sam’s legs burned as he pushed himself to his maximum speed. “Ooh,” she called out. “Eager, are we? I’d say we should race, but this is more like an obstacle course.” She jumped on top of a precariously balanced pile of rocks and turned to face him, not bothering to run. She reached down for a loose stone and then tossed it in the air, catching it easily.

_What the hell is she doing?_ Jacob asked.

Leah answered, _Toying with Sam. Watch it. She’s going to pitch it…_

Before Leah could complete the thought, the vampire threw the rock at Sam’s head. He dodged to the left, and it narrowly missed his ear. _Bitch,_ he said.

Victoria appeared delighted that her missile didn’t hit its mark. “What fun! You creatures are quick, aren’t you?” This time she grabbed six stones, and she flung them in such quick succession that her arm looked like a blur. Sam ducked away from four of them, but the last two hit him in his shoulder. They didn’t slow him down at all, and Victoria sprinted away, giggling hysterically.

Seth asked, _Did she actually think that would hurt him?_

_Maybe she’s testing him,_ Embry suggested.

_But she’s faced us before. She knows what we can do,_ Jacob said.

Leah thought of the disgusting, stony grit that filled her mouth when she bit into the vampire during their first encounter. _The chunk missing from her shoulder should be a reminder._

But rather than fight, as she had with Leah, or flee, as she usually did, Victoria grabbed a low branch as she sprinted, and she turned toward Sam again. She let out a burst of cackling laughter and yelled, “Fetch, boy!” and threw it. She didn’t even try to hit him. It landed pointlessly behind him.

Seth asked, _What was that for?_

_She's taunting us, I think,_ Leah said. _She's staying just out of reach. This is all just a game to her._

_Who cares what she's up to? Get her, Sam!_ Paul yelled.

But Victoria hadn’t survived for as long as she had because of her fighting skills. She knew better than to stay. She turned and sprinted away before Sam could get close enough to engage her.

_Come back here and face me!_ Sam yelled in futility.

_She’s too fast,_ Seth said.

Leah didn’t agree. _Not for me. Just stay on her, Sam. I’m only a couple minutes away._

Sam persisted with grim determination. He could match her speed, but he could not surpass it. Only Leah was fast enough to catch her. If Leah could slow her down, he would rip her head off. _I won't lose her._

Victoria didn’t even seem to be trying anymore. She didn’t climb to the canopy, nor did she try to go faster, and she would not get close enough to battle Sam. She stayed just far enough away that he couldn’t hurt her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that the black wolf was right behind her. “Give it up, puppy. You’ll never catch me.”

He simply snarled in response, and he lunged at her. She dodged away. She was too nimble and quick. But soon she heard the pounding of paws in the forest behind them. She peeked over her shoulder and lost the gleeful look on her face. The rest of the pack was coming, and she knew it.

When Victoria saw the gray wolf appear, her face shifted from smug and taunting into a mask of anger. She recognized the animal that had permanently maimed her, and she hissed. She glanced between Leah and Sam, gauging her chances against them, and she knew she would lose. In frustration, she changed her course of flight and ran directly north. Leah soon surpassed Sam and started to gain ground.

_Get her, sis,_ Seth encouraged.

Leah ignored the comment, focusing on the task at hand. _Where is she going? Does she really think she's going to get away this time?_

Sam answered, _I hear water._

_I think there's a river somewhere ahead of you,_ Jared added. _Is that what she's going for?_

Embry wasn't sure. _I don't know. What good will that do? It's not the ocean. If she tries to cross, we can just follow her. It isn't as if she can hide in the water. It's not that deep, is it?_

_Parts of it are,_ Jared answered.

_Maybe she'll try to drown you,_ Jacob suggested. _Leah is just as fast as she is, and I'm pretty sure just as strong, if not stronger. And this time she's going to have a lot of back up. But the leech doesn't have to breathe. So if they have to fight, that thing would have an advantage in the water._

Sam knew that Leah would reach Victoria before he did. _That's a good point. Watch yourself, Leah. If it's at all possible, don't engage her in the water._

Leah saw it just as he spoke. A tributary appeared before them. It was about forty yards wide, and the water was foaming and turbulent. Victoria plunged in.

_The river isn't what worries me,_ Leah said. Through the sparse trees on the far bank, she saw a steep slope of rocks jutting upward. _I'm pretty sure I can climb that cliff wall as a human, but there's no way as a wolf. If she makes it that far, we might never catch her. I have to take her down first._ Leah jumped into the chest-deep, churning water.

Victoria had slowed slightly; the current was yanking at her long, fur coat. Just as Leah howled and lunged at her, she pulled the garment off and threw it at Leah, where it landed over her eyes. It only took a few seconds for Leah to shake the sodden coat off, but Victoria had disappeared.

_She's under the water!_ Sam yelled. _She's getting away._

Victoria had lowered her head and was swimming downstream, but her bright red hair was her undoing. Leah could see every movement thanks to her conspicuous mane. _No, she's not,_ Leah snarled and took off. She angled herself toward the opposite bank and scampered through the marsh grass, and then she sprinted along the bank, keeping pace with vampire, who swam swiftly with the assistance of the current.

Sam followed behind them on the opposite side. _Up there, do you see it?_

_Yeah, I see it._ Leah ran ahead to higher ground, where the river bent toward her, and she waited for just the right moment. When the vampire passed beneath her, she leapt. But Victoria rose out of the water when Leah was mid air and unable to change course. Leah knocked her under the surface, but Victoria simply braced herself against the river's floor and used her legs to kick Leah in the gut, sending her flying backward. Leah managed to inhale a lungful of air before she was submerged. Victoria wasted no time and pounced, arms poised to grab Leah's head. Despite the disorientation of the flowing water, Leah knew that her opponent meant to either drown her or twist her skull until her neck broke. She snapped her teeth at Victoria's hand and tore off two of Victoria's fingers and half of her palm. The female screamed in pain and reared back.

Leah righted herself as Victoria found her footing on the slippery rocks below. Leah lunged forward before Victoria could flee. The two opponents locked together, Leah's sharp claws raking into Victoria's chest and holding her still, the vampire pummeling at Leah's foreleg with her damaged fist. She managed to get her good hand wrapped around Leah's throat and squeezed her airway until Leah shoved her back. Behind them, Sam jumped into the water. Victoria didn't even consider fighting them both. In two huge leaps, she bounded onto the shore and headed straight for the cliff wall. The two wolves took off after her, just a few feet behind.

Victoria scrambled up the nearest tree trunk to stay out of reach. Leah jumped up and grabbed one ankle in her mouth, but all she came away with was one of Victoria's boots. It contained a crumbling piece of her heel, but that was only enough to make Victoria curse and kick off her other boot. It didn't slow her down. She climbed out across a high, strong branch. Even with her missing fingers and maimed foot, she was still able to propel herself to the next tree, and the next. Leah and Sam followed beneath her, barking and snarling. Behind them, Jacob and Paul reached the river.

Soon she was at the edge of the trees. Victoria clung to a slender young pine. The distance to the cliff wall was too far to cross unless she knew how to fly. Jared suggested, _That tree isn't too sturdy. Do you guys think you can knock it down, or maybe dislodge her?_

_It's worth a shot,_ Sam answered. He backed up several feet, and then he rammed into the base with his shoulder. Pine needles rained down on him, but Victoria held fast. He did it again. Victoria glared at them and began to climb higher.

_Where the hell is she going?_ Jacob asked.

Embry added, _It's not going to hold her weight if she keeps doing that._

But Leah understood. _Shit. She's going for the cliff wall._

_How?_ Jared asked. _It's too far._

The tree began to sway under Victoria's weight, and then they all knew what she would do. _God damn it,_ Sam swore as Victoria swung around to the other side of the tree, bending it in the other direction. _She's swinging it like a pendulum._

_If she goes up the cliff, she's going to get away! We can't climb that as wolves!_ Jared realized.

_Fuck that,_ Leah snarled. _She's not escaping. Not this time._

Sam suddenly remembered what Leah had wanted to do that last time she got so close to Victoria. He thought it was suicide then, and he still did. _Leah, don't you even think..._ But she was gone before he could complete his order. _Shit!_

_What the fuck is she doing?_ Jared asked.

But Sam didn't need to answer. The entire pack could see through his eyes, and more distantly, through Paul's and Jacob's. Leah shrank into her vulnerable, beautiful human body, yanked her sundress over her head, and started scaling the cliff with her bare hands and feet. The sharp edges of stone scraped her soft skin, but the tiny wounds closed as quickly as they formed. She managed to clamber onto a narrow ledge at the same moment that Victoria swung the top of the pine so hard that it snapped midway up the trunk, flinging her at the rock face. She grabbed onto it like a spider, sending loose rocks tumbling down toward Leah. Leah shielded her eyes from the debris, and as soon as she could see, she began to climb after Victoria. The leech hissed and spat, "You savage bitch! If you were alone, I would take your filthy animal head and mount it on a wall!"

"Come down here and try to take it!" Leah yelled. Below them, Sam, Jacob, and Paul howled. "Fight me, you coward!"

Victoria kicked more stones down at her, but Leah kept going. "How stupid do you think I am? And why are you protecting that worthless human, anyway? She's nothing. Nobody. Certainly not worth risking yourselves for."

"We protect all humans," Leah shouted as she climbed. "When I catch you, I'm going to make you suffer, not for Bella, for that hiker you just killed. For all the people you've killed."

"Oh my God. You are so pathetically naïve. That's hiker wasn't my kill, although he was delicious.”

Jacob asked, _What the hell is that supposed to mean?_

Victoria glanced down and saw that Leah was no longer directly beneath her. She had moved off to the right in order to stay out of the path of the falling rocks. The vampire understood her intent and began to laugh as she broke a chunk of granite from the wall and flung it at Leah, who had nowhere to go. She barely managed to turn her head away in time to prevent the missile from taking out her eye. Instead it opened a gash in her scalp instead of her face. Victoria sniffed the air, catching a whiff of Leah's blood. She began to salivate. "How bizarre! You smell disgusting, like a wet dog, but your blood, it's still human, isn't it? That hiker was barely an appetizer. Are you the main course?"

Leah narrowed her eyes and ignored Victoria's threat. "What the fuck are you talking about? You just said he wasn't your kill."

_Are you sure there's no other vampire trail nearby?_ Sam asked Jared.

_I'm certain,_ Jared answered. _We explored the area really thoroughly. I’m following the Cullen trail back to their place._

Seth had initially gone with Jared as instructed, but he couldn't stand seeing his sister so vulnerable. He had turned around as soon as Leah caught up to Victoria. _I'm coming to you, Sam._

Sam knew that Seth couldn't focus on anything else while his sister was in danger. _Sure. Jared, you find out what's up with the Cullens._

Victoria just laughed again. "You really are too trusting, my dear. You shouldn’t believe everything that you’re told.”

Embry asked, _Wait, is she trying to say she did kill the hiker? Or that she didn’t?_

_I have no idea,_ Sam answered.

Victoria continued, “You really think the Cullens are your friends?"

“Friends?” Leah continued to pull herself higher. "Of course not. They’re monsters, just like you."

Victoria grinned widely and managed to stay just out of reach. "Monsters, yes. Then I will assume you're under no illusions about who they really are. Liars, all of them. "

_What's she talking about?_ Seth asked.

Paul answered grimly, _Isn't it obvious?_

Above him, Leah had reached her goal. She had spotted a slight outcropping in the rock wall. It was just large enough for her to secure her footing. She launched herself up and to the left, catching Victoria's ankles with both hands. Victoria shrieked and lost her grip, and the two women went tumbling.

_Leah!_ Paul and Sam shouted simultaneously.

Victoria managed to grab a handhold and stopped their descent, and then she started flailing her legs wildly. Leah couldn't keep hold of Victoria's broken foot, but she didn't let go of the other. She reached up grabbed Victoria's calf and began climbing her like a rope. Victoria cursed and thrashed, but Leah did not let go. But when Leah wrapped both arms around her waist, Victoria elbowed her in the face, dislodging her. Leah barely prevented a free-fall by reaching out to the cliff wall. Victoria lowered herself far enough that she was side by side with Leah, held fast to the rocks with her left hand, and left her right free to assault Leah. The vampire punched her repeatedly in the jaw. Leah absorbed the blows and grabbed Victoria by the hair, yanking her close. Victoria pummeled her flank, but Leah ignored the pain and reached for the fingers clinging to the cliff, and she systematically pried them loose. Victoria scrambled for the rocks, but Leah was in the way. Together, they plummeted down.

Victoria could do nothing to prevent their fall. She knew that in a split second, the pack waiting below them would tear her to pieces. There was only one thing she could do: kill Leah before she died. Paul watched in horror as the monster clutched Leah close, wrapped her arms around Leah's ribs and squeezed. Victoria twisted them around mid-air and sank her teeth into Leah's soft neck as they slammed into the ground.

Leah landed squarely on the back of her neck and skull. The spikes of crippling pain that shot down her spine were nothing compared to the searing ropes of fiery venom that spread through her neck. As she blacked out, she felt her leg snap under Victoria's knee.

Her brothers were ready and waiting. They set upon Victoria immediately. Paul rammed into the vampire with an enraged howl, freeing Leah. Jacob was waiting on the other side. Victoria tried to grab his skull, but he snapped her arm off the elbow instead. She tried to plant her feet underneath her, but Sam leapt over Leah and pinned her down. Embry burst out of the trees and crushed her skull with his teeth. The thrashing body suddenly froze, still and hard as a statue.

Jacob phased back into his human body and lit a fire while Embry and Sam systematically dismembered the enemy. It was over in a matter of moments. She was dead.  

Paul, however, hardly noticed what was going on. He had phased as soon as he was certain his brothers had Victoria under control. He only had one concern: the brave, foolhardy girl who had brought down the Cold One singlehandedly. He knelt over Leah, frantically calling her name. But she didn't respond. She lay motionless on the ground. Her eyes were closed, bruises bloomed across her skin, her limbs splayed out, and a puddle of blood pooled under her head. He reached out in an attempt to gather her up and cradle her in his arms. But every time his hands got close to her skin, an invisible force stopped him. He tried again and again, but there was nothing he could do. He was helpless, and this time it wasn’t because of the enemy. It was because of one of his brothers. "Sam!" he screamed. "Lift the goddamn fucking order! I need to help her!"

Jacob turned toward them. "What's going on? Is she okay?"

"Does she look okay?" Paul's voice rose higher and higher. Each second that ticked by and she didn’t wake up, his fear grew. "She's fucking unconscious, and because of that jealous asshole, I can't help her! Sam! Sam!"  

The black wolf paused as he threw an arm into the flames, but he did not phase, nor did he answer. He concentrated on the task of destroying Victoria, otherwise carefully keeping his mind blank, even when Seth frantically demanded to know what Paul was talking about. Next to him, Embry stilled, glancing back and forth between them.

Paul kept trying to touch Leah, to put pressure on her neck wound, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't quite do it. Desperate, furious tears sprung to his eyes. He refused to lose her. She had to wake up. There was no other option. "God damn you, Sam! Do you want her to die? Is that it? If you can't have her, no one can?" He rose and stalked toward the Alpha, preparing to phase. If Sam wouldn’t lift the order, Paul would simply end him, and the order would die with him. "I'm going to fucking kill you."

But before he reached his opponent, Jacob grabbed his arm. Whatever was going on between the two men was irrelevant. Now that Victoria was dead, their only priority was Leah, and they would do her no good if they were fighting amongst themselves. "Paul, not now. Leah needs you."

Paul didn't take his eyes off Sam, who stood before him in a defensive crouch. "That's exactly why I have to kill this prick. For Leah."

Jacob insisted, "Not now! Kick his ass later or something. For now, just come help me with her."

Paul whirled on Jacob. "Don't you think I want to? What do you think I was trying to do?"

"Getting distracted from what's actually important! Beating up Sam isn't going to make her wake up." Jacob dragged him back and pointed at Leah. "Look." He ripped off a section of his shorts and pressed the fabric to her neck. She still bled steadily. "This bite isn't closing, and she hit her head really hard. That's a lot of blood under her. Some of it might be coming from her scalp. I need to take a look, but I don't want to jostle her too much. I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to move her spine around. She practically landed on her head."

Paul saw the expanding pool of dark red blood and started to panic. "So we just let her bleed out?"

"No! I'm trying to help her, okay?"

But Paul was too terrified for Leah and angry at Sam to think rationally. Adrenaline still pumped through his body from the chase. "By leaving her there, bleeding and unconscious? For fuck's sake. Pick her up and take her to a hospital!"

Jacob shook his head. "You know we can't do that. No one knows what we are..."

"Who cares about our stupid secret!" Paul yelled. He desperately needed to help Leah, and it seemed that everyone and everything stood in his way. In the pack mind, Seth agreed with him and was sprinting toward them. Embry turned toward the forest to watch for her younger brother, trying in futility to calm him down. "Is that worth her life?" Now Paul set his sights on Jacob, balling up his fists. He would get rid of both Sam and Jacob, and then no one could stop him from helping her.

"Stop!" Jacob yelled. Paul froze mid-step. "Just listen to me! I'm trying to help, and you freaking out isn't doing any good! Just think about what would happen to her in a hospital. Our bodies don't work like normal people's. Her temperature is ten degrees higher than everyone else's. No one even knows that vampires exist, let alone what to do about their venom. They wouldn't even know what to do with her. They could end up hurting her as much as helping her. And if they figure out what she is, she'll probably get locked up and experimented on like a lab rat."

"Shit," Paul muttered. He took a deep breath. "What do we do?"

Jacob said, "I'm going to roll her over. You get on the other side and tell me what you see."

"Okay, yeah." Paul did as instructed. He crouched down as Jacob carefully cradled her head in one hand and pulled her shoulder off the ground. What he saw did not reassure him at all. "There's a lot of blood, Jake. A lot."

"Where's it coming from?"

Paul shook his head. "I can't tell, exactly. The neck, definitely. But her hair's in the way."

"Crap. We need another set of hands," Jacob said. He thought he was supposed to stabilize her neck in line with her shoulders in order to protect her spine, but he couldn't do that while holding pressure on her neck, and her hips were sliding back. He really didn't know what he was doing, but he was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to move so much. "Embry, we need some help!"

Embry dropped Victoria's foot from his mouth, and he phased and started to put on his shorts. "Coming!"

But Leah's slick blood and her limp body caused her to rock back. "Paul, grab her hip! Keep her in line!" Jacob yelled. "And put pressure on her neck!"

"But..."

Jacob snapped, "Just do it!"

Paul stopped thinking, and he obeyed. He grabbed her hip with one hand and held his other to her neck. His stomach churned as he felt her warm blood seeping between his fingers. The flow did not stem, so he pressed even harder. It had little result. He choked on a sob. He was almost strangling her. Was he hurting her? Could she feel it? “Oh, god. Leah? Leah?” The sensation was so distressing that he didn’t even realize that somehow, he had disobeyed Sam’s direct order.

“I can’t see the back of her head from this angle. Embry, take a look. Just move her hair out of the way,” Jacob instructed. His tone left no room for argument.

Embry’s hand shook as he parted her bloody, matted locks. A wave of nausea rose in his throat. “Jesus…”

“What is it? What do you see?” Jacob urged.

“Shit. It’s bad, Jake.”

Sam had phased while they weren't looking. His voice wavered. “H-how bad? Just spit it out, guys.” A black plume of smoke rose into the sky behind him, and their nostrils burned with the chemicals released from the burning venom. “How is she?”

“I'm pretty sure that's... I think can see her skull,” Embry said.

Paul’s head started to spin. He had to close his eyes against the sight of her battered body. He silently told himself to hold it together. If their places were reversed, if it were him on the ground and she was leaning over him, she wouldn’t be panicking the way he was. She wouldn’t have wasted valuable time going after Sam, and she wouldn’t have needed Jacob to calm her down. She would be focused, strong, and decisive. If she could talk to him right now, she would tease him for being weak. She would roll her eyes and tell him that he worried for no reason, that she was going to be fine, and that the pack should just be grateful that she had delivered Victoria to them.

Instead, she lay still beneath his hands. He was more frightened than he had ever been. "Leah, sweetheart...” He bent low and pressed his lips to her cheek. She did not turn her lips to meet his. “Please,” he whispered in her ear. She didn’t shiver like she usually did. “Wake up.” He squeezed her hip. It didn’t roll under his hand. “Please.” He kissed her eyelids. They did not flutter open. "You have to wake up so I can tell you," he begged. Somehow, by challenging him, arguing with him, intriguing him, and sharing herself with him, she had found her way inside of him. She had become a part of him in a way no one else had ever managed, and now she was slipping away. He hoped she could hear him, but he knew that she did not. Because he knew, suddenly and without any doubt, that he loved her. But he feared that she would never know.

X-x-x-x-X

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Babs81410.


	23. Secrets

"Why isn't she healing?" Embry asked. "Why aren't these wounds closing up?"

Sam knelt down at Leah's feet. Now that he could enjoy the privacy of his own mind, he could let his guard down a little. Staring at her bloodied form, the gravity of the situation finally became clear to him. He had been so focused on tearing Victoria apart that he missed how badly she was hurt. He thought Paul was exaggerating, that Leah's healing powers would save her, that she would open her eyes and sit up at any moment. And when Paul accused him of deliberately letting Leah suffer, it took all his concentration to keep his mind clear so that no one would discover exactly what had transpired between them. But now he understood. "Because of the venom. It does something to us, to our bodies."

Bile rose in Paul's throat. A terrible image appeared in his mind: his beautiful Leah with washed out skin, cold, stony flesh, and red, empty eyes. "Oh, God. Is she going to… Is she going to…" He couldn't even finish the sentence.

Quietly, Embry asked, "Will she turn into one of them?"

"I don't think that's possible, is it?" Jacob asked.

Sam answered, "That's right. We can't be turned. But the venom is still poisonous. It's hurting her even more than the fall."

Jacob frowned. "Bella got bitten once. Edward sucked out the venom before it spread too far, kind of like when someone gets bitten by a snake. If he hadn't done that, they say she would either have died or turned."

Paul glared at him. "If that's true, then why the heck am I doing this?" He took his hand off her neck and placed his lips over the gaping wound. The salty, rusty blood that filled his mouth was tainted. Wrong. It was a startling contrast to the warm, rich flavor he associated with Leah, and he spat it on the ground. "Fuck."

Sam's heart started pounding in his chest, and his stomach churned. Was this really happening? He put his hand on her ankle and squeezed it, feeling utterly helpless. "Do you think that's going to work?"

"It has to." Paul repeated the process again and again. Despite his attempts to avoid ingesting the poison, he inevitably consumed some. His mouth felt like it was on fire. His gut clenched in painful knots. His lips went numb. Soon enough, he retched violently, emptying the contents of his stomach on top of the blood splattered across the ground.

Worse yet, it made little difference. The bleeding slowed, but it did not stop, and her flesh did not close. "Stop," Jacob said. "She probably needs whatever blood she's got left."

"Shit," Paul muttered as he tried and failed to wipe his face clean. "I waited too long. I should have stopped her. Or…"

"It's not your fault," Jacob said. "It was that bitch vampire."

Embry ripped the pocket out of his shorts and held the fresh cloth to Leah's neck. "But Leah did it. Can you believe it? She took that leech down. She was really brave."

Paul huffed in frustration. "And a hell of a lot of good her bravery did her. I don't fucking care about that stupid vampire. Not if Leah doesn't wake up. Why the hell did she go after her like that? That was crazy."

"I tried to stop her." Sam said.

"Not hard enough," Paul snapped. "The one time you can't issue an order fast enough!"

Jacob tried to put his hand on Paul's shoulder, but Paul shrugged him off. "No matter what, she saved a bunch of lives. Victoria was going to keep killing, and she prevented all those deaths. She saved Bella's."

Paul laughed angrily. "Fuck Bella. She's not worth half of Leah. She's just some pathetic, whiny idiot who has practically offered herself up like a meal. She should be lying here, not Leah."

Jacob's jaw clenched, and his hands curled into fists at his sides. "Hey, Bella didn't ask to be hunted. And Leah knew what she signed up for." He knew he was out of line, but he was always irrationally protective of Bella.

"Signed up?" Paul asked incredulously. "She signed up for college, for nursing school, for a normal life. Not for this. She didn't choose any of this. But she gave it her all anyway, put in the most hours, ran the most patrols, pushed herself the hardest, even though it was all against her will. And this is what she gets for it?" He pointed at her motionless body.

Embry interrupted before the argument could degenerate further. "Guys, you're on the same side, remember? Yelling at each other like this is pointless. It's not going to help her one bit."

Paul snapped, "No kidding. She needs the hospital, a doctor, something. Anything!"

Sam reminded him quietly, "You know we can't do that. It isn't as if we have a choice. What we are, it has to remain a secret."

"Bullshit," Paul yelled. "There's always a choice. If this was your precious, pathetic imprint, we wouldn't be standing here. You took Emily to a hospital when you mauled her, but you're letting Leah bleed to death after she did what none of the rest of us could, and caught that bitch vampire."

"This is different, not because of imprinting, because Emily's fully human. Leah isn't. A human hospital can't fix her. But I'm not just going to let her die. Her mom's a nurse, and she knows what's going on. She knows what Leah is." Sam suggested, "Let's get her."

"I think this is a little bit beyond her, don't you?" Paul pointed out.

"Wait, there is another option," Jacob said. "The regular hospital wouldn't know what to do with her, but there is one doctor around here who knows what we are already, who knows all about the Cold Ones already."

Sam said his head. "You aren't honestly suggesting…"

Jacob said firmly, "That's exactly what I'm suggesting. What choice do we have? We can't just let her die."

Paul immediately agreed. "We have to do it. She's not getting better on her own. Sam, I know you don't care about her…"

"That's not true at all," Sam responded. "You can't even imagine what I feel for her. You had this meaningless, empty fling with her, and you think it means something. It doesn't. That's why she dumped you. You think you know her, but you don't, not like I do. She was mine long before you came along. We loved each other before she even knew your name. So don't talk to me about how I feel." He could talk about their past, but he said nothing of the fact that he still believed she was his, that they would make a life together after Emily. He could have an eternity, but he wasn't sure he wanted it if she was not by his side. "I just don't trust them, any of them, even the doctor. The thought of handing her over to those monsters…"

Paul actually agreed on that point. "We shouldn't take her to them, we should bring the doctor to us. And just him, not any of the others."

"Yeah," Embry agreed. "We know he's capable of controlling himself around blood."

Paul added, "And they owe us. They owe Leah. They're the ones who couldn't clean up their own mess. If it weren't for Leah, Victoria would still be out there chasing after Bella, and no thanks to them."

Embry nodded. "So let's take her home, see what her mom can do to help. Jared's already by the Cullen’s. He can get Carlisle and bring him."   

"He's not allowed on our land," Sam insisted.

Paul started to rise. With a deadly look in his eye, he small, "Fuck you and fuck your stupid rules. Is it really worth it? Is it worth her life?"  

Jacob put a restraining hand on Paul's wrist. "Not now. Seriously. Fighting is a huge waste of time."

Embry pointed out, "Sam, that treaty isn't written in stone. You were the one who negotiated to get us access to their territory so we could go after Victoria, remember? And this time, we would be asking for him to help us, not the other way around. I know you don't trust him. None of us do. But we can control how this goes down. Letting him onto our land would be on our terms, not his. Besides, what choice do we have?"

Sam wasn't convinced. "We have to think of everyone else's safety too, not just Leah's."

"Shut up, both of you," Paul snapped. "While you're having a debate, you're wasting time that Leah might not have." He slid his arms under her.

Sam growled, "What the hell do you think you're doing? Put her down!"

"Fuck off! I'm getting her help, one way or another." Paul started to lift her up. "You guys can stay here and jerk each other off, for all I care."

Jacob held his hands out. "Wait. Sam's right, even if it's for the wrong reasons. She fell on her head, on her neck. Plus the bleeding will probably get even worse if we move her around. I don't think we're supposed to pick her up without, like, one of those paramedic backboards or something."

"Oh shit." Paul gently laid her back down. "Yeah, you're right. Then we need him here ASAP."

"Her mom can come out here too," Embry added.

Jacob prepared to phase, not waiting for Sam's agreement. "I'm going to tell Jared to go get Dr. Fang, and I'll tell Seth to get his mom."

After a quick explanation from Jacob, Seth turned around and started sprinting toward the hospital, where his mother was still at work. Jared approached the Cullen mansion with trepidation. He had seen it on patrol several times before but had never gotten so close. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. His body hummed with the instinct to phase, but he forcefully pushed it down. The front door opened after only a single knock, startling him. The brunette female that he knew as the doctor's wife greeted him. "Good afternoon," she said evenly. "What can I do for you?"

Jared wondered why she didn't look surprised to see him. Had Edward overheard his thoughts and informed the coven that he was coming? Did she know about the hiker? He was certain that she had not been the one to find the body, because her rotten scent was oddly blended with garlic and onions, and he found no traces of her by the hiker. "We need the doctor. We just killed Victoria, but our pack sister got injured bringing her down. She's been bitten."

"Oh my goodness! Carlisle," she cried, "get your bag!" Jared tried to read her, to gauge the sincerity of the alarmed expression on her face, but he couldn't conclude anything.

From the rear of the house came a yell. "I'm coming!"

Esme tried to usher him in. "Come in, come in. I'm so sorry about your friend, but what a relief to know that Victoria is gone! I think we owe you a debt of gratitude on Bella's behalf."

Jared didn't want to go in. He didn't know how many vampires were inside, but he was surely outnumbered. Additionally, he was worried about what Edward might have already overheard in his mind. He wanted to get away as quickly as possible. He tried to keep his mind blank so that nothing more could be stolen from it, but it was impossible. He refocused his brain by entering the house and observing as much as possible, systematically cataloguing everything he saw and memorizing the layout. Similar mental exercises had helped him maintain a little privacy in the pack mind. He concentrated on mapping the house, its contents, and its residents. Esme's eyes were amber, and he looked closely to see whether the shade was due to contact lenses but could see none. He stepped into the hall. Two more vampires stood in the large doorway to the living room: the blonde female that Leah had encountered, and her dark-haired, muscular mate. Emmett was more bulky and taller than Jared, but not as large as Sam or Jacob. His scent was muskier than the rest of his family, and his eyes were darker, but without any trace of red. He strained to hear throughout the house, but he couldn’t tell if anyone besides the doctor was out of sight.

Emmett interrupted his concentration with a grin. "So the wolf bitch finally caught up to Victoria, huh? I wish I'd been there. I'd have loved a chance to get my hands on her myself."

"Then you should have done some patrols. I don't know how you guys planned to catch her while you were sitting around in this big house of yours."

Emmett's expression didn't change despite Jared's judgmental tone. "How'd it go down? I want the play-by-play!"

Was his news really a surprise? "Didn't that mind-reader see and tell you? Where is he, anyway? Since Bella's the one Victoria was after, you'd think he'd be down here offering to help Leah."

"Is his presence welcome?" Esme asked. Without waiting for an answer, she said, "He isn't here, actually. He's with Bella."

Out of the corner of his eye, Jared noticed Rosalie's eyes narrow almost imperceptibly, and he wondered if it meant anything. Either Edward was there but refusing to show his face and spying on all of Jared's thoughts, or he was gone before Jared arrived. He had no way to figure out which was the case without searching the house. "We found a body in the woods, recently killed by a vampire. Victoria's trail led away. We followed it, and Leah caught up with her. She tried climbing up a cliff to get away from us, but Leah just phased and followed her as a human. She physically yanked her to the ground, and we tore her apart."

"Sweet!" Emmett exclaimed. "What a bad ass! She must be really fast. That chick was hard to catch."

"Yes, but it might have gotten her killed. Victoria bit her before she died."

Carlisle appeared with a duffel bag in hand. "But not fatally?"

"Not yet," Jared answered. He put his hand to his neck. "Got her here, and she landed on her head when she fell. She won't stop bleeding, and she's unconscious. Is... Is there anything you can do?"

"I sincerely hope so. Take me to her," Carlisle instructed. "Rose, come on."

"Wait," Jared stopped them. "Just you."

"She can help," Carlisle explained. "I'll probably need an experienced hand to assist me. She's been to medical school."

Jared didn't believe him. "If she's a doctor, then why'd she go to high school again? Either you're lying, or she's not able to control herself around blood or something."

Rosalie stiffened. "I'll have you know that I've never consumed a drop of human blood. Not once."

"Congratulations! Neither have I!" Jared said sarcastically. "Now can we get going? Leah's already lost a lot of blood."

"And she fell on her head, you say? From what height?"

"She literally fell off a cliff."

"And how many open wounds does she have?"

Jared thought about what he had seen in his brothers' minds. "Two, I think? The back of her scalp is split open, plus there's the bite to her neck."

"Any other injuries?"

Jared shrugged. "I don’t know. Probably."

Carlisle followed him out and called over his shoulder, "Bring us some bags of lactated ringer's or saline, Rose! She'll need it." He turned to Jared. "Where will she find us?"

"You don't have what you need?" Jared asked, pointing at the duffel.

"I won't know exactly what I need until I see her. I have some supplies," Carlisle explained, "but I don't keep IV fluid lying around my house, and if she's lost that much blood..."

With obvious irritation on her face, she asked, "Do you want our help or not? You came to us, remember."

Jared only thought about it for a second. The pack didn't want anyone other than Carlisle to come, but if he didn't have what he needed, Leah had to suffer the consequences. "Northeast of here. There's a river, and she's north of it. There's a, well, not quite a mountain, and the south face of it is a cliff, just like I said..."

Rosalie interrupted, "I think I know where that is. It's not far from the 101, is that right?"

Jared nodded, and Rosalie disappeared into the garage, yelling, "You mutts smell absolutely disgusting. I'll be able to find you from miles away."

Jared led Carlisle away nodded curiously at the bag. "What's in there? What other kind of stuff will you need?"

"I'll let you know when I examine her. This is a glorified first aid kit. I never used to keep any supplies on hand," Carlisle said. "After all, what need do we have of such things in our home? Any injury to my kind can't be fixed with a suture kit or a splint. But then my son met Bella Swan, and she's not exactly..."

"Fine," Jared cut him off. He didn't care to hear anything about the human girl's clumsiness, not while Leah was unconscious and bleeding. They didn't exactly get along, but she was his pack sister, and he didn't want her to die. "I can go a lot faster as a wolf. Just follow me, okay?"

"Of course. Make sure they keep her as still as possible," Carlisle instructed. "I need to check the safety of her spinal cord before we move her."

When he phased in, Jacob was waiting for him, and Seth was still on his way to the hospital. He could see Paul and Embry bent over Leah's body. Sam was scaling the cliff. _What's he doing?_

Jacob explained. _We figure Victoria was probably just trying to get away, but he wanted to see if there was anything at the top, any leech trails or anything._

_Oh. That's not a bad idea. Wouldn't want to miss something important while we're so focused on Leah._

_Yeah. Mostly I think he wanted to do something. It's hard just waiting here. I see you're bringing the doctor?_

_Uh huh. And I think the blonde vamp is going to show up at some point too. He said he needs more supplies than he has with him._

Seth was terrified and frustrated. _That's why we should be taking her to a hospital!_

Jacob told him, _We would be doing that if it we really thought it would help. I don't care if Sam agrees or not._

Jared reminded them, _But with the kind of fall she had, it really isn't safe to take her anywhere. The doctor says not to move her until he can check her out._

_But if he thinks we need to take her to a hospital, we're doing it, right?_ Seth insisted. _No matter what Sam says._

_Agreed,_ Jacob.

Jared didn't agree, but he had the good sense not to argue.

Jacob asked him, _Did you figure anything out? From following the trail, or when you went to talk to them?_

_Yeah. One of them definitely came across that body and went back to their house afterward. The trail went straight inside. It wasn't the doctor, just like Sam said, or the blonde, the mom, or the big guy. They all smelled different. Horrible, but different from each other. And I looked pretty carefully at their eyes. If they're wearing contact lenses to change the color, they'd have to be damn near invisible. I looked really carefully. I didn't see the others._

_So Jasper, Alice, or Edward found the hiker,_ Jacob concluded. _Did any of them say anything about it?_

_No, nothing. They acted like they had no idea what was going on. But I don't know, they didn't look nearly surprised enough to see me. They were way too chill. I kind of thought the mind rapist saw me coming, but they said he was out with Bella. I mean, even if we're allowed on their lands to patrol, it's not like any of us ever drop in on them unannounced. If one of them showed up on my doorstep, I'd be pissed off, freaked out, mad, worried, something. She just opened the door like I was a girl scout selling cookies or something._

_They're way off,_ Jacob agreed. _Once we know Leah's going to be okay, we have to figure out what's really going on._

_You really think one of them killed that guy?_ Seth asked.

Jacob answered immediately. _Probably. There's only two possibilities. Either one of them killed him, and they're trying to cover it up. They didn't know we'd find the body before they had a chance to get rid of it, and they were talking about what to do when Jared got there. Or Edward, Alice, or Jasper found Victoria killing that guy and couldn't stop him and ran home to get help, or just to figure out what to do next. But if that was the case, wouldn't one of them have said something to Jared? I'll bet they didn't have time to get their stories straight, so they just didn't say anything at all._

_Fuck. Why do they have to live here?_ Jared complained. _Of all the places in the whole world, why Forks? They're rich. They can go anywhere._

_We have to get rid of them,_ Jacob proposed. _Best case scenario, they aren't murderers, but they're still making us all phase, turning everything upside down. This whole Victoria fiasco is their fault. They warped Bella's brain. Apparently they knew that other vampire we killed, you know, the one with the dreadlocks?_

_They did?_ Seth asked. _The one you guys hunted before Leah and I phased?_

_Yeah,_ Jacob explained _. They met him along with Victoria and her mate, and then they just let them walk away, and of course he came back to eat Bella. Who knows how many people he killed before we got him? And if we hadn't been there to protect her, she'd be dead. And that was after they let her get kidnapped by Victoria's boyfriend._

_We can't let them stay here,_ Seth agreed. _All that stuff is bad enough, and if one of them killed that guy this morning..._

_I understand why we couldn't push back before,_ Jared told them. _Besides the fact that they claimed to be harmless, there are seven of them, and at first, the pack was just one wolf, then two, then three. We were too outnumbered. But now?_

Seth spotted the hospital in front of him. _I've got to go, guys._

_Get your mom,_ Jacob agreed. Once he was gone, he mused, _I hope Edward's nowhere nearby, that he didn't hear any of that. I would really love to know where he actually is. For once, I hope he really is with Bella._

Several minutes later, Jared and Carlisle reached the pack. Jared walked to the treeline and kept watch. The doctor pulled on a pair of gloves, rushed to his patient, uncovered her neck, and took her pulse, temperature, and blood pressure. Paul refused to budge, holding tightly to Leah's hand. Sam made his way down to the ground.

"Is it as bad as it looks?" Jacob asked, tugging on his shorts.

"It isn't good," Carlisle said. "She's lost quite a lot of blood, and I'll obviously have to close this bite. Let me check the back." He slipped his fingers beneath her skull and probed gently, working his way down her spine. "I feel the gash you told me about. I can't feel anything obviously broken, but I can't be sure..."

Jacob asked, "Her spine?"

"I can't tell if it's stable without imaging. But first thing's first, let's stop the bleeding. She won't care about being paralyzed if she bleeds to death."

Paul closed his eyes at the doctor's grim words. "You fix her," he whispered. "You fix her or…"

Dr. Cullen ignored his outburst. "Put your hand here, and hold pressure." He put gauze in Paul's hand and guided it to the back of Leah's head. "But try to move her as little as possible. Jacob, grab my stethoscope from my bag. Then look for a large bottle of clear liquid. I want you to pour it over that wound in her neck. Try to get it as clean as possible."

While Jacob followed his instructions, Sam stood directly behind the doctor, ready to grab him away from Leah if he needed to. Carlisle listened to her heart, lungs, and abdomen. He pressed his hands into her belly and along her limbs. When he got to her leg, he hummed a small noise. "Are you done, Jacob?"

"I think so. Is it okay that I used all of it?"

"Yes." Dr. Cullen removed more equipment from his bag and leaned over her neck. He blotted the blood away with another piece of gauze and applied what looked like long matchsticks to several areas.

Jacob asked, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to slow the bleeding. Luckily, Victoria didn't get so deep as to hit her jugular or carotid. If she had, I think your friend would be dead already. Young man..."

"Embry," he identified himself.

"Embry, get the iodine from my bag. It's that brown liquid." He swabbed it all around her skin. Then he opened a few bags and set them on the ground beside him, and he changed into a clean set of gloves. He methodically placed sutures along the crescent shaped lacerations. When he finished, he taped clean gauze over the area. In the distance, they heard the rumble of an engine. "Just in time.” He looked oddly pleased.

They turned in the direction of the sound. "Is that Sue and Seth?" Jacob asked. "The engine sounds different."

The engine cut out before the vehicle came into view. Moments later, Rosalie appeared bearing a backboard in one hand and a large bag in the other. Sam moved to block her way, using his bulk in an attempt to intimidate her. "What's she doing here? We agreed that it was just going to be the doctor."

Jacob started to explain, but Rosalie didn't need anyone to justify her presence. She held up the equipment in her hands. "And he's supposed to help her with what? Magic? If you don't think she needs this, I'm happy to go home. I have better things to do."

Sam reluctantly stepped aside, and Rosalie stepped forward. She laid the board and bag next to Leah. "Okay," Sam said, "that's enough. You brought supplies. Now you can go."

Rosalie actually rolled her eyes. "You can't possibly be serious. I'm helping. What are you doing except getting in the way and interrupting us?"

"She really can help," Carlisle reassured them. "She knows what she's doing."

Sam shook his head. "But she has to help while leaning over a puddle of blood. Leah has already been bitten once today. I won't have it happening again."

Jacob asked, "Is she really used to being around blood? I know you're surrounded by it every day, doc, but can she resist?"

Carlisle opened his mouth, but Rosalie put a hand up to stop him. She didn't need anyone to speak for her, and she didn't wait for permission. She opened the bag. While she swabbed Leah's arm with alcohol, she said, "You all smell repulsive. I'd rather eat dirt. Besides, I'm perfectly used to the smell of blood." She tied a tourniquet in place, and in a blatantly patronizing tone, slowly, as if talking to a child, she said, "You might not know this, but someday, when you're older, your mommies and daddies will explain to you that once a month, girls have something called a period. That means they bleed for a few days every…"

"What the heck is your point?" Jared asked.

Jacob understood. "In school. Or just out and about, there are dozens of women and girls around them every day. Just because no one's injured…"

Sam said, "That doesn't make me feel any better. That just means they tempt themselves every time they leave the house!"

"It means I'm perfectly capable of controlling myself around blood!" Rosalie insisted as she pierced Leah's skin to start an IV.

Jacob remembered an incident Bella told him about. "So wait, why the fuck did one of you attack Bella when she got a little paper cut? She said it was the smell of blood that pushed him over the line."

Rosalie and Carlisle glanced at one another without answering. Rosalie connected a bag of saline and held it up to Embry. "Hold this."

Jacob wanted to press them harder, but Paul growled, "Are you guys here to argue or help Leah? She's still bleeding, and she's not waking up!" Despite his best efforts to put pressure on her scalp wound, he could still feel fresh blood oozing between his fingers.

Carlyle's moved his face into a professional mask of calm and said, "You're right, of course."

Rosalie rooted around in her bag and came out with a large, stiff collar. "Here." She handed it to Carlisle.

Carlisle warned Paul, "Young man, your fingers might get pinched a little…"

"It's Paul. And I really don't care about my fingers."

They slipped the bulky, stiff collar around her neck and fastened it. At Carlisle's instruction, they carefully rolled her to the side and slipped the backboard underneath her, and they secured her to it, pulling her high enough that her wound was accessible for examination. Then they tilted her so that Carlisle could flush and suture it closed.

"What else?" Rosalie asked.

Carlisle told her, "That tibia is broken. Pretty obviously displaced, so I'll need to reset it and splint it. Hard to say beyond that."

"Okay. I'll be right back." Rosalie ran off. Only moments later she returned holding a splint. Embry looked in the direction she had gone. "What the heck? Do you guys keep all that stuff in your car?"

Rosalie grinned. "I stole an ambulance. Hotwired it to get here, and drove it as far as I could before the trees got in the way."

She knelt down and grabbed Leah's leg. Carlisle positioned himself at her feet. "Good thing she's already unconscious. This won't feel too good."

Paul couldn't watch as Carlisle pulled the limb back into place. He had to close his eyes. When they were finished, he swallowed the lump in his throat. "Now what?"

"Now we take her to the hospital." It was Sue. He hadn't heard her approach because he was so focused on Leah.

Carlisle looked skeptical, "We could…"

Sam reiterated, "But she isn't human. They're going to notice."

"They will be alarmed her temperature," Carlisle agreed. "It's even higher than usual because of the bite. It's up to 112. They won't just think she has a fever. This level simply isn't possible for a human."

Paul challenged, "So what? Our secret can't be as important as she is."

Sue snapped at Sam, "My daughter isn't going to die out here in the woods!" She clamped her teeth together. They could see a muscle jumping in her jaw. Then she took a deep breath, and with a trembling voice asked Dr. Cullen, "Tell me how she is. Tell me how to get her better. Tell me she'll be fine."

"I wish I could," Carlisle admitted. "She clearly has suffered quite a bit of blood loss, although we are giving her fluids, and we stopped the bleeding."

"And you have her in a C-collar. So you must think her spine is unstable. Doesn't that mean she should get a scan?" Sue asked.

He clarified, "That's a precautionary measure. I couldn't find any instability on my exam, but obviously there's no way to be sure without a CT."

Sue declared, "Then we get a CT."

"I would like nothing more than to do that. But I'm afraid of what might happen when they try to bring down her temperature. You know she isn't just going to get a normal work up and some antibiotics. With a temperature like that, they'll drop her in an ice bath, do an ice water lavage, and then they'll call the CDC!"

Sue insisted, "But we can't just leave her like this!"

"I'm not suggesting that."

Sue was at the end of her wits. She yelled, "Then what exactly are you suggesting?"

Before the sentence was complete, a low groan interrupted them. Leah began to tug at the restraints that held her down. Her eyes, though, remained firmly closed, her face screwed into a grimace.

Paul touched her cheek. "Leah? Baby? Can you hear me? Leah?"

Sue grabbed her hand and called for her daughter, who continued to groan and struggle. Her mother urged her to stay calm and not to move. Gradually she settled. Paul kissed her brow and asked her to wake up over and over.

Finally she muttered, "Motherfucker!" Everyone let out startled laughter. She opened her eyes, blinking in a dazed and disoriented fashion, struggling to keep her lids open. "Wha... What… What the… Why…"

Seth told her, "You did it, sis. You took Victoria down, and she's dead."

"Burnt to ash," Jacob added.

Sam told her, "Thanks to you, and that crazy stunt you pulled."

Her eyes fell shut again, but the tiniest hint of a smile turned up the corner of her mouth. "Good. Bitch deserved it." Then her nose wrinkled. "Why the fuck does it smell like someone vomited up a can of hairspray?"

X-x-x-x-X

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks again to Babs81410, and also for all the kind reviews.


	24. Rift

“Put me down! I can walk,” Leah insisted.

Paul snorted. “Your leg is broken, babe.”

“I can… hobble.”

He kept walking. “Sure you can.”

“I can!”

Jacob called out, “You should be nicer to Paul, Leah!”

“Yeah! Be nicer to me!” Paul agreed.

Sue rolled her eyes and told her daughter, “You’ve only got two choices. Either Paul carries you to my car, or we’ll toss you into the ambulance and lock you in with two vampires.”

Leah folded her arms over her chest and pouted. Paul had to fight the urge to laugh at her. “At least get this damn thing off my neck.”

Seth snickered. "You're the werewolf equivalent of a dog with a cone around its neck."

"Shut up!" Leah glared at her brother.

“You’re lucky we let you off the backboard, young lady!” Sue snapped. “It’ll come off when we’re sure that you’re not going to be paralyzed if we take it off.”

“When will that be?” Leah whined as Paul maneuvered her into her mother's front seat.

Sue rolled her eyes. “Oh, dear lord. This is going to be just like that road trip we took to Disneyland when you were eight, isn’t it? ‘When will we get there? Are we there yet? I have to pee! I’m thirsty. Are we there yet?’”

“Hey, that was a fun trip. Disneyland was awesome. Why didn’t we ever do that again?”

Sue gaped at her. “Why do you think? Your father and I were this close,” she held her thumb and forefinger just millimeters apart, “to tossing you into a ditch on the side of the road!”

Paul had a feeling that the ride back to the reservation would be just as pleasant, but Leah fell asleep as soon as the car started moving. At first, no one spoke for fear of waking her.

"If we're really careful getting her into the house," Seth whispered, "maybe she'll keep sleeping."

"Wishful thinking," Sue mused. "When she was a baby, if we couldn't get her to sleep, we'd try driving her around. It never failed. Something about the engine or the movement lulled her to sleep. She'd pass out after, oh, just a couple minutes. But no matter what, whether the ride was five minutes long or an hour, her eyes would pop open as soon as we turned into the driveway, and she'd start screaming. It was so weird. She always woke up before we turned the engine off. She is going to be so cranky until she gets better." She glanced at Paul in the rearview mirror. "You sure I can't drop you off at your house?"

"Nah, thanks. I'm going to stick around for a little bit."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Sue smiled a little. "Nurses and doctors make the very, very worst patients. A crippled nurse werewolf in a neck brace?"

Seth groaned, "This is going to be a disaster."

Sue parked in front of Forks' only pharmacy. "That depends on how well the pain pills work."

Leah didn't stir while her mother picked up the prescription Carlisle had called in for her. Seth leaned forward from the back seat and waved his hand in front of his sister's face. She didn't move. "I dunno. I think she's out like a light. We can carry her inside when we get home and put her right to bed. Or maybe I should just get her a blanket and let her sleep here."

"Dude, grow some balls!" Paul laughed. "Why are you so afraid of your sister waking up?"

"Why aren't you afraid of my sister? She gets really, really, really cranky when she's sick. She hates feeling like she's dependent on anyone, and right now she can't even stand up on her own. She's going to want a bath to get the vampire stink and all the dirt and blood off her, but the doctor said not to get the bandages wet, and we can't take her out of the splint or collar. She's going to be so pissy until she can take a bath. Think we can get her to swallow the pain pills without waking her up?"

Paul deadpanned, "No, but if you crush them up and hold them under her nostrils, she can snort them."

"You think?" Seth asked innocently.

"Or crush one, melt it in a spoon, and mainline it into one of her arteries."

Seth frowned. "Now you're just screwing with me."

"You think?" Paul echoed.

"I know I should be grateful she's alive. But I hate that she got hurt at all, and seriously, she's going to be miserable, and she's going to do her best to make sure I'm miserable with her."

Paul shrugged. "I'll be around as much as I can. She's nicer to me than she is to you."

Seth cocked a brow at him skeptically. "No she's not. You just seem to like it when she's mean."

"I kinda do," Paul admitted with a smile. "It turns me on, plus the make up sex is really…”

Seth punched him in the arm. “Dude! Shut up! That’s my sister!”

Paul rubbed his deltoid, which was surprisingly painful. “Hey, it’s not my fault she’s so hot and...”

Seth punched him again. “Quit before I need brain bleach!”

Paul laughed. “Too bad there's no such thing, especially for wolf telepathy, right?”

“Ugh! Don’t remind me! I don't want to hear about it, and I definitely don't want to see it!"

"You're just embarrassed that you think your sister's hot." Seth hit him harder. It was painful, but the expression on Seth’s face was worth it. He couldn't resist goading him further. "But it's okay. You're male and straight, and she's... ow! really sexy, and... ow! You're not blind, so..." Paul winced and snorted at the same time. “Ow. Quit it! You’re going to wake her up!” To his surprise, Seth stopped and sheepishly put his hands in his lap. Paul was confused until he realized Seth was looking over his shoulder. He turned to see Sue glaring at them through the window. “Oh, so that’s where Leah gets that look from.” He gulped.

Sue said nothing as she got into the car and started it up, but during the drive, she kept glancing at them in the rearview mirror with the same deadly look in her eye, effectively silencing the boys.

Just as her mother predicted, Leah woke up as the wheels turned onto the driveway. "Are we there yet?" she asked groggily.

"Home sweet home. How do you feel, sweetheart?" Sue asked.

"Like I got hit by a truck." Leah paused. "And the truck bit me. And injected gasoline into my..."

Paul snickered, "Give up on the metaphor. It's not working."

"Fine." Leah's bottom lip made another prominent appearance. "Like shit, okay? I feel like shit. Happy now?"

"Thrilled," Paul grinned as he helped her out. "I mean, look at the other guy!"

She smiled. "That does make me feel better."

He took her inside while Seth checked in with the rest of the pack. Paul rooted around the kitchen while Sue helped Leah clean up. He muttered to himself about sexy mother-daughter sponge baths, not realizing he was talking out loud until Seth slammed the back door shut. "Dude! Shut up! It’s bad enough you keep defiling my sister, but that’s over the line!"

Paul shrugged unapologetically. "Not my fault your mom's almost as hot as your sister."

Seth rolled his eyes and shuddered at the same time. "Ew. That’s too far, even for you!”

It was too much fun embarrassing Seth. The boy’s even temper rarely flared, and Paul wanted to see how far he could push it. “You think your mom managed to get her nice and clean? I’ll bet she had to get her clothes off and rub her down, you know, really gently, with a wet cloth.”

“Shut up!” Seth lunged at him. Paul darted to the other side of the kitchen table.

“I can just imagine the beads of water rolling down between her…”

Seth sprang at him, and this time Paul wasn’t quite fast enough. Seth’s fist made contact with his shoulderblade. “Shut up!”

“Do you think your mom got wet too?” Paul asked as he ran around the kitchen island.

“Shut up!”

Paul laughed hysterically. “Maybe she had to take off her own clothes since they got so wet!”

This time Seth gave an incoherent yell and jumped on top of the kitchen counter, sending two cookie sheets clattering to the floor. Paul grabbed one and held it up as a shield. Seth’s fist put a dent in the middle of the aluminum. “Whoa, nice right hook!”

From upstairs, Leah yelled, "You moron, I can hear you, you know!"

Seth grinned at him triumphantly. “She’ll kick your ass herself when she’s better!”

Paul backed away carefully but couldn’t help himself. “But that’s not going to stop me. I’m kinda into that kinky shit! Usually I'd rather be the dom...” Seth slapped him upside the head. "Ow! But I can be a switch if it means your sister will... Ow!" Seth slapped him again.

In the background, Paul could hear Sue asking if her kitchen was still intact.

“Kick his ass for me, little bro!” Leah yelled.

“Gladly!” Seth cried as he backed Paul against the wall.

Paul tried to smack Seth with the dented pan, but Seth blocked it easily and tossed it away. “Hey, what kind of gratitude is this? I sucked vampire venom out of your sister’s neck, and this is how you thank me?”

"He did?" Leah sounded completely surprised. "Seth, did he do that?"

Seth paused with his fist raised in the air. “Yeah, that’s true,” he said reluctantly, glancing up at the ceiling where his sister was on the other side.

Instead of thanking him, she yelled, "Well that was just stupid, Paul! You could have died! That stuff is poison!"

"No shit! It tastes like ass, too."

After a pause, she mumbled. "Great. Now I owe you, don't I?"

"Mm hmm. But I'm sure I can figure out a good way for you to pay me back."

She sighed heavily. "Fantastic."

"Do you still want me to beat him up?" Seth called.

She sighed. "Kind of, but not as much as I did a second ago."

"Am I entertaining you, baby?" Paul asked with excessive sweetness.

There was another pause. Leah answered, "Yeah. Sort of. But that won't stop me from hitting you."

"Good!" he chuckled.

Seth frowned for a second, trying to figure out what to do. Then he punched Paul squarely in his solar plexus, sending Paul down to his knees as he wheezed and laughed. He winced involuntarily when he saw Seth’s hand in front of his face, but Seth said, “Thanks for helping my sister.”

Paul took his hand, and Seth helped him up. “No problem.”

After Leah changed into comfortable clothes, she refused to accept any more help and hopped down the stairs on her good foot and plopped into a chair in the kitchen. Seth couldn't quite hide his amusement at how silly she looked in the neck brace. Leah glared at him until he apologized. He went on to explain that Embry was patrolling, while Jacob had been sent east to try to figure out where Victoria came from and whether she had any allies still lurking about.

"No surprise that Sam sent Jake on a wild goose chase," Paul commented.

Seth cocked his head as he handed Leah a mug of hot chocolate. "What do you mean? It makes sense to have someone double check, don't you think? Remember when Leah almost caught her that first time, when she escaped into Cullen land, there was a second vamp trail? We never figured out where it went, or whose it was."

Paul shrugged. "I'm not denying that. I'm just not surprised that it's Jake he sent away. Sam feels threatened."

"What do you mean?" Leah asked.

Paul wrapped his hands around hers where they gripped the mug. "This. I mean this."

Her eyes widened. She had temporarily forgotten that only hours ago, Paul could not touch her. "Is everything back to normal?" She looked tentatively into his eyes. "Did you figure out what happened?"

"Not exactly," Paul told her. "Do you remember anything else?"

She shook her head. Paul was convinced Sam had done something to her, but she still had no recollection of such a thing. "Not really."

"I'm absolutely certain that Sam put an order on you that made it impossible for me to touch you, though. The motherfucker nearly got you killed in the process." He closed his eyes, overwhelmed by the memory of her lying bloodied and broken on the ground, and how helpless he felt when he couldn't do anything for her. He swallowed thickly. "I couldn't… You were bleeding, and I couldn't…" He trailed off, then cleared his throat. "But then, Jake told me to help you. Sam's order was broken when Jake overruled him, I guess you'd say."

Leah's mouth opened in surprise. "Jake can do that?"

Seth exclaimed, "Wow! Does that mean he's the Alpha now, if his orders trump Sam's?"

"I hope so, but it can't possibly be that easy." Paul sighed. "Sam's too power hungry. He's not going to give up without a fight."

A few miles away, Sam was thinking the very same thing. He understood what Jacob did not yet realize: the younger boy had the power of the Alpha running through his veins, an advantage Sam could not claim. No, Sam couldn't rest on the laurels of his ancestors. No one had given him his role. He had earned it. Jacob was only a hotheaded, disobedient child who relied on the accomplishments of his forefathers to gain his position.

Emily agreed. She wanted to know everything that had happened. He described the day's events in detail, concentrating on their concern about the Cullen trail that intersected with the dead hiker. Emily took note of it but wanted to talk more about his position in the pack. She had been concerned when Jacob managed to defy Sam's strict instructions to stay away from Bella Swan, and that he had been able to reveal their secrets to the outsider. Now she was alarmed that he had managed to help Paul to defy Sam as well. She worried that Jacob had already usurped Sam, but Sam insisted this was not the case. Jacob, in fact, seemed not to have realized what had happened at all. Sam sent him off to explore Victoria's trail before he got any other ideas. She praised Sam for his quick thinking. It should keep him out of their hair for at least a little while. In the meantime they would figure out what to do.

Emily urged her fiancé to keep Paul and Leah away from Jacob. If anyone would convince him to fight for his title, they would. Sam agreed, but he didn't like her next suggestion at all. He wanted to figure out a new way to keep Paul and Leah apart. Emily told him not to bother, not anymore. It simply wasn't a priority. As long as they occupied each other, they would be less motivated to seek out Jacob.

Before they could come up with a plan, the phone rang. It was Old Quil. His grandson had fallen ill. He had been extremely irritable for the past several days. Now he also had a very high fever, shaking chills, and complained that his bones felt like they were being pulled apart. The signs were clear.

Sam apologized to Emily and left the house to check on his new charge. He stopped to get Jared on the way. They found Quil curled on his side in his small bed. The boy had visibly grown, both in height and sheer muscle mass. His face was a taut grimace of pain. He was covered in sweat, and he felt warm even to their touch. He was clearly one of them.

Sam told Old Quil that one of them would remain by the house while they waited for his first transformation. He would be told everything then. The elder frowned. He planned to immediately tell his grandson about what was to come, and although he could do it himself, he wanted someone with him who could explain the process in greater detail. Sam was taken aback. Wasn't that against the rules? They never discussed pack secrets with anyone except pack members, imprints, and council members. Old Quil responded that his grandson obviously was a pack member. Sam said that he would be soon, but not yet. He was following a rule instituted by the old man himself. They argued, a rare event. More unusual than that, Old Quil responded with arguments that Sue, of all people, had used against him. He refused to admit it at the time, but she had made very good points. Now that his own family was involved, he could see logic. She had talked about painful and frightening the entire experience was for all of them, how pointless secrecy was at this late stage, and how dangerous it was to leave them ignorant. The change was inevitable.

Sam eventually acquiesced. He, Jared, and Old Quil carefully explained what was happening to the sick boy. To their surprise, he reacted with excitement rather than fear. He demanded to see for himself, and Jared obliged. Quil thought the huge brown wolf was “fan-fucking-tastic”, and he couldn’t wait to turn into one himself. When Sam left, he heard Quil speculating about what color he would be.

When he was halfway home, he ran into Jacob. "Hey, you're back awfully early." He wasn't supposed to be on the reservation yet. Sam had been quite clear that Jacob needed to thoroughly search the area before returning. Sam had to resist the urge to immediately scold him. Perhaps he had found something and come back to tell them about it?

"Yeah. Jared said Quil is turning? I came to see him."

Sam frowned. "Did you find anything? Victoria may be gone, but that doesn't mean we're safe."

"I know, I'm going to, "Jacob reassured him. "It's just, well, Quil's my cousin, you know? I had to come see him."

Sam's jaw twitched. He held himself back and didn't yell at the boy for disobeying a direct order. He still wasn't sure that Jacob even realized what he was doing. Sam wasn't about to point it out in case it gave him any ideas. "So did you leave everyone unguarded?"

Jacob indignantly answered, "Of course not. Embry's still on patrol. But he's planning on coming to see Quil as soon as his shift is over."

Sam nodded brusquely, trying to figure out how he could turn these events to his advantage. "You can tell Jared to go home when you see him. You stay with your cousin, and check in with your dad. Maybe get a bite to eat, a little rest." From the relieved expression on Jacob's face, he knew he had made a good decision. He felt both generous and magnanimous. Better yet, he knew just how to keep Jacob away from Paul. He made sure to issue a clear order next. "Don't phase in again until you hear from me. Someone else can do the tracking. You take care of your family." Jake rushed off, thanking Sam.

Sam updated Emily as soon as he got home. She agreed that leaving Jacob with Quil was a good distraction. Now they just had to make sure that Paul didn't immediately find him.

At that moment, Paul was too concerned about Leah to look for Jacob. After nearly losing her, he did not want to be apart, so he slept on the floor of her bedroom. She had to be woken up every hour due to her concussion, so he took turns with her mother and brother and set an alarm. He quickly realized that he would wake up whenever someone else came into the room anyway, so he told Seth and Sue to turn off their alarms, and he took over the task by himself. It always took her a while to come to consciousness. Each time, Paul was terrified that she wouldn't wake up. Additionally, her wounds were still fresh, and the traces of venom still flowing through her veins severely impaired her ability to heal. Instead of the quick recovery they normally achieved, her bruises looked worse as the hours passed. But he knew she was going to be fine, because the curses she hurled at him for waking her over and over were clear, crisp, and creative.

By morning, his mood was nearly as bad as hers, because they were both exhausted. He worked up a righteous rage looking at the purple mottling on her skin, the spots of blood seeping through her bandages, and her neck brace and cast. He blamed Sam for all of it, irrational though that was. Each time he touched her hand or kissed her hair, he knew that if Sam had his way, he couldn't be with her. He would never kiss her soft lips or hear her sexy bedroom voice. He would not make her laugh or see the spark in her eye. He resolved not to let that happen. He could think of only two solutions: kill Sam, a sorely tempting option, or convince Jacob to take over as Alpha. He still had a little time before he was supposed to start patrol with Sam, so he went looking.

He avoided phasing, worried that Sam might already be there. First he knocked on the Blacks' front door. Billy sent him to the Ateara house. He was relieved to hear Jacob's voice inside, but when he entered, Jacob was on the phone. There was a frantic female voice on the other end of the line. Hitching, broken sobs punctuated incoherent outbursts. "What's going on?" he mouthed to Jacob.

Jacob only glanced at him briefly, too concerned about the girl to really notice him. Old Quil ushered him into his grandson's room, thanking him for coming. Paul greeted his new pack brother and tuned out the girl’s tinny, quavering voice. Quil was in high spirits despite how terrible he looked and felt. They chatted until they heard Jacob hang up the phone. Paul went to talk to him, but he was already gone. "Where the hell is he?"

Old Quil told him, "I believe that was the Swan girl. I think he went to see her. She didn't sound very good."

"Shit." Paul made to follow him, but the elder stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going? I don't want my grandson alone when he turns. One of you is supposed to stay with him."

Paul considered ignoring him and just leaving. After all, the old man had no way to stop him. But he was supposed to patrol with Sam for the next several hours, and while he was good at hiding his thoughts, he wasn't perfect, and he was worried Sam would come up with more senseless orders. He agreed to stay. Old Quil called Sam to inform him of the change in plans. Paul heard Sam disagreeing, but the elder left no room for argument.

As the hours ticked by, Paul began to regret his decision. Quil was way too excited about his impending transformation. He peppered Paul with question after question, often getting so distracted that he forgot the answers and asked again. Paul felt like gagging him. He wanted to go back to Leah's house and track down Jacob, not babysit. At least he had managed to get out of patrol. Sharing headspace with Sam was the very last thing he wanted to do.

By mid afternoon, he couldn't control his temper any longer. When Quil asked for the second time if Paul ever peed on a fire hydrant in his wolf form, giggling hysterically, Paul lost it. "Jesus Christ! Are you deaf, dumb, or both? I'm not having this idiotic conversation!"

Quil started to shake. "It was just a joke. Are you always such a dick?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Don't like it? Too bad. That's your problem, not mine."

"Why the hell are you here, anyway?" Quil asked. "I thought Jake was coming back."

Paul rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure he's off kissing Bella Swan's ass. It's so pathetic."

Quil defended his friend and cousin. "It's not pathetic. They're friends! Friends take care of each other, something I don't think you understand."

Normally Paul wouldn't even notice such a comment. But he had just spent the entire night lying on the hard floor of the woman he loved, waking up every hour just to make sure she was okay, after drinking vampire venom for her. "Fuck you. You don't know me."

"And I don't want to know you," Quil snapped. "So get out of my house!"

Paul threw his hands up. "Fine!" He began to stalk away, heading out the back door. He had better things to do anyway. Maybe he could find Jacob while Sam was still on patrol.

But Quil hadn't actually expected him to leave. He followed him outside. "Wait, you're actually leaving? What about me? What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't care," Paul answered, continuing to walk away. "You're going to explode soon, and then you can find a fire hydrant to pee on, so enjoy that, I guess."

"You stupid…" The words turned into a howl. Paul turned around to see an enormous brown wolf in the yard.

"Oh, great." He shucked off his shorts and transformed.

The next few hours where amusing, at least. Quil was basically an overgrown puppy. He chased his own tail, tripped over his paws, and was so confused by the multiple lines of sight in his mind that he kept crashing into things. Sam and Paul had their hands full orienting him. It was distracting enough that Paul managed to keep his mind clear of his hopes to unseat Sam, who likewise focused on Quil. Paul was worried Sam would try to issue another order restricting him from Leah, but he did not. But when the time came for one of them to meet Dr. Cullen by the border and escort him to check on her, Sam left Paul with Quil and went to do it himself.

Paul was annoyed, but not surprised. As soon as Sam phased out, he headed for Leah's house. He wasn't about to leave them alone together. Who knew what Sam would do? Quil trailed behind him, asking what they were doing. He wasn't sure if he could trust the newest member of the pack, so he told him that it was highly unusual that the vampire was allowed on the reservation. He wanted to stand guard. Quil accepted the explanation easily. In order to keep his mind blank of private thoughts, he explained who the Cullens were in greater detail. Quil's grandfather had already told him, but Paul could picture the individual coven members in his mind and show Quil details that could only be garnered from the pack mind.

They looked in through the Clearwaters' window and saw the doctor speaking with Leah. Their nostrils burned with his sharp, decayed sent, and the hackles on their necks rose involuntarily. Instinctively, Quil growled low in his throat, drawing the attention of the people inside the house. Paul reprimanded him, but it was too late. Sam and Carlisle both spotted them where they hid in the trees. Sam glared at them, but Dr. Cullen simply nodded in acknowledgement of their presence. He assumed that they were there to ensure the safety of the reservation while he was within its boundaries. He calmly examined Leah and removed her collar, explaining that she did not need it anymore. Unfortunately, she had to keep her splint on until he could come back and put it in a cast. She balked, not wanting to be so restricted, but he insisted. She simply wasn't healing as swiftly as her kind normally did, thanks to Victoria's venom.

While Carlisle was changing the dressings on Leah's wounds, the phone rang. Sue had gone to work, and Seth was at school, so Leah asked Sam to get it. Bella was on the other end. Paul and Quil couldn't hear the conversation, but from the expressions on Leah's and Carlisle's faces, they could. The doctor ducked his head down, appearing to focus on carefully cleaning around Leah's stitches, hiding his face from Leah. But Paul could see an expression of alarm cross his features. Paul told Quil to wait, and he phased and went inside. He wouldn't Leah alone with the predator in her vulnerable state.

At the same moment, Sam hung up the phone and stalked into the living room, nodding at Paul and glancing at Leah. Carlisle put his hands in the air and backed away from Leah as Paul placed himself between them. Sam backed the vampire into a corner and growled, "I know you heard all of that. You had better tell me the truth, all of it, if you want to get out of here in one piece."

Carlisle sighed and held his hands out in a placating gesture. "My son tried to help that man, that's all."

"Then how come he's dead?" Sam demanded.

"Because he was too late," Carlisle insisted. "He tried, and he's beating himself up about not getting there sooner, but there was nothing he could do."

Paul asked, "What happened? Who are you talking about?"

"Edward," Leah explained.

Paul understood. "That's why Jake went to see Bella this morning?"

"Yeah," Sam answered, not taking his eyes off the coven leader. "He was making sure her boyfriend didn't have another little 'accident' and murder her."

"There was no accident! Edward did nothing wrong," Carlisle insisted. "He got there too late to help the man. He tried, he honestly did. But Victoria had already bitten him by the time Edward arrived. He chased her off, but the venom was already spreading through his body. Edward tried to suck it out, just like he did with Bella, but it had spread too far. There was nothing he could do."

Leah glared at him. "Except finish the job."

"No!" Carlisle yelled. "He was just too late, that's all. Please, I know that biting a human is in violation of the treaty, but he did it in good conscience. He was only trying to help, and he feels terrible that he failed. The man died in his arms. The guilt is consuming him even though it's misplaced. Victoria was responsible for that man's death, not Edward. And we are so grateful that you managed to end her threat once and for all. You accomplished what we could not. You kept Bella safe when we failed. In that way, we are responsible. We let her walk away, let James and Laurent walk away, after they met Bella. That is our fault, my fault. Life is precious to me, all life, and I am conflicted in times such as these. I am a pacifist at heart, and I cannot bear to kill anyone, vampire or human. But in hindsight, I know I should not have let them leave, and the deaths that have occurred since then are on my head, not Edward's."

Sam debated internally for only a moment. He had always wanted to kill the monster, wanted to kill all of them, and right now they had the leader surrounded and separated from his coven. It would be easy. But he looked at Leah and knew the doctor had come to her aid without obligation, and killing him would surely start a war. "Go," he said in a clipped tone. "But we will meet again to renegotiate the terms of the treaty. I don't care how much sympathy you have towards others of your kind. Any vampire that kills humans cannot be allowed anywhere near your lands or ours. If that isn't something you can agree to, we will not have a treaty."

The doctor gathered his things hastily and bolted out the door, promising to talk to his family.

After Carlisle was gone, Paul said, "He's lying."

"I know," Sam responded. "It makes no sense. If Edward interrupted Victoria before she drained the hiker, he would have turned into a vampire, not died. Edward just finished what she started."

"Or she interrupted him, and he bit the man himself," Leah pointed out.

"If he was really trying to help, they would have said that from the beginning," Sam reasoned. "They would have told Jared when he showed up at their place looking for help. They acted like they had no idea what was going on, but Edward's trail was obvious. He got back to the house before Jared did. They must have seen his red eyes. Is it possible he hid from the others?"

Leah challenged, "In their house? With a psychic there, and her boyfriend who can read everyone's emotions and manipulate them? There's no way they didn't know he was back."

"They tried to cover for him," Paul agreed. "And now they're trying to keep him out of trouble."

"Trying to keep us from killing him, you mean," Leah said, disgusted.

Sam nodded. "We need to meet. Jacob needs to get back here and tell us everything he figured out from Bella, and what he found when he was exploring the area. I want to have everything straight and take it to the council..."

Loud barking interrupted him. They turned to see Quil scratching at the back door. Sam wanted him back into the cover of the trees, so he grabbed Quil by the scruff on the back of his neck and pulled him there bodily. Once they were there, Quil was still agitated and barking, so Sam pulled off his clothes and phased.

Paul watched from the window. "What's going on?" Leah asked, peering over his shoulder.

"I don't know, but I'm guessing it's not good. Are you okay?"

"Just sore. Really sore. But I'm glad to be out of that stupid collar."

Paul placed his hand on the back of her neck. He wanted to give her a massage to loosen the knots in her muscles, but he was afraid of pulling on her stitches. He settled for rubbing gentle, small circles in her skin. They noticed that Quil had stopped barking and was sitting on his haunches staring at Sam. "I don't care if he saved your life," Paul told her. "I don't trust that leech or any member of his so-called family"

"He didn't save my life," Leah pointed out. "He just stitched me back together. The way Seth tells it, you saved my life by doing what Edward failed to do. You got that venom out of my system."

"Not enough of it," he said, looking at her mottled, bruised skin. He bent to place soft kisses on her bare shoulder.

When he righted himself, Sam was standing before them staring daggers at them.

"What is it?" Leah asked.

"Edward's on the run, and Jake's going after him," Sam told them. Paul's stomach clenched. Although he was glad someone was seeking justice for the dead hiker, he wished it wasn't Jacob. If something bad happened to him, they could be stuck with Sam as their Alpha forever.

Leah asked, "Does he need backup? Someone should go with him."

Sam shook his head. "We can't afford to spare anyone else. You're out of commission, and there are still six members of the coven in town, and they know we suspect them. The reservation is our first priority. We have to protect it."

"I'm going to make sure Quil's okay," Paul said, squeezing Leah’s hand and walking out the back door. He wanted to talk to Jacob before he was too far away and while Sam was still occupied. But when he looked for Jacob in the pack mind, he only found Quil and Embry. _Where's Jake? I need to talk to him._

_He's gone,_ Embry said.

Paul didn't understand. _Is he chasing after him on foot or something? Did he get his Rabbit?_

Embry answered, _No, of course not. He has to be in wolf form when he gets to Edward._

_Then where is he?_ Paul was getting agitated. He paced back and forth, searching the woods with his keen eyesight as if he could find Jacob just by looking. He needed Jacob's help with Sam, and he wasn't willing to wait until he came home. He looked through the window, where Sam was placing gauze on Leah's neck. Paul watched him lick his lips as he tried to peer down her shirt. _I really need to talk to him. Right now. It can't wait._

Embry told him, _You're not listening, Paul._ It was true. Paul wanted to go back inside and tear Sam's hands off Leah. He didn't want them to be alone. _It's not just that he's not here physically. None of us can reach him._

_What are you talking about?_ He needed Jacob's help, and he couldn't wait for it. Maybe there was some way Jacob could put some kind of protective order over Leah.

Embry was confused by his line of thinking, but he managed to get Paul's attention again. _Paul, what's going on? What's that about Jacob issuing orders? It's not going to happen, man. He's gone, gone._

Paul froze. _What do you mean, "gone, gone"? Start talking sense._

Embry's next words stunned Paul. _Yeah. You can't talk to him. None of us can. I don’t really get what happened, but he basically went rogue when he left. Jake's a lone wolf now._


	25. Ally

The pack was in chaos after Jacob's disappearance. Although Victoria was dead, no one felt any safer. Now their suspicions shifted from the nomad to the large coven that had infiltrated their community. Sam saw an opportunity to regain full control. Paul wondered if he had somehow orchestrated the whole thing, but he couldn't imagine how. Embry and Quil, who witnessed Jake's last moments in the pack, said that Sam hadn't kicked Jacob out. He had simply left.

No individual in the pack knew exactly what had happened, but after talking with Bella, they pieced together a timeline. She had been trying to see Edward, but he was avoiding her. She went to his house but wasn't allowed in. Jasper turned her away at the door. She panicked and reached out to her emotional crutch, Jacob, eventually reaching him at Quil's house where he was waiting for his cousin to phase. By then, Jacob's suspicions were at an all-time high. He had spent hours carefully exploring the forest for clues to explain what had happened to the dead hiker, and he confirmed that the only trails near the body belonged to Victoria and Edward. When Bella called, she gave him an excuse to find Edward himself and interrogate him.

Bella, as usual, insisted on placing herself in the most dangerous place possible. She accompanied Jacob on his search for Edward. They didn't know where he was, so Jacob tracked him by scent. They found him skulking outside the high school. They only caught the briefest glimpse of him before he took off, and were it not for Bella begging him to talk to her, he might have disappeared before anything else happened. But she pleaded with him, saying that the last time he left her, it nearly destroyed her, and she swore she would not survive if he disappeared again. He stopped running, but he would not face her. He kept his face hidden by a hood and turned his back to her. She tried to run to him, asking him why he didn't want to see her, but he moved away from her while professing his love and telling her she had done nothing wrong. It wasn't until Jacob forcibly held him in place and yanked the sunglasses from his face that she saw his blood-red eyes.

Bella was horrified, and Jacob was livid. Edward told them the same story that Carlisle had repeated: he interrupted Victoria as she attacked the hiker, but he was too late to save the man. Rather than chase her down, he stayed to try to drain the venom from his neck, but it had spread too far. He swore there was nothing else he could do.

Jacob didn't believe it for a second. He said Edward had killed him and violated the treaty, and he swore to kill him on the spot. Bella tried to pry them apart, which was the only thing that kept Jacob from phasing immediately. She defended Edward, saying that he had done the exact same thing for her. Jacob asked her if Edward's eyes had turned red after he drank her blood. She admitted that they had not; he had not ingested enough. But now his irises were crimson; he drank deeply of human blood. Jacob asked him why, if the man was too far gone, had Edward not simply taken him back to Carlisle before draining him? Hadn't most of the members of their coven been "saved" by being allowed to turn? Edward gave no answer. Instead he hissed and threw a punch at Jacob. Jacob pushed Bella out of the way and phased.

Quil and Embry witnessed everything else directly. Jacob and Edward fought, but neither could gain the upper hand because Bella kept trying to get between them, and neither of them wanted to hurt her. Embry began to run toward their location, and soon Sam phased in at Quil's urging. Edward used his mind-reading powers to see how badly he was outnumbered, and he sprinted away. Jacob went after him immediately. His focus was singular. When Sam urged caution and told him not to engage Edward before backup arrived, Jacob refused. Edward was fast, and he didn't want to let him get away. If he made it into a car or another vehicle, they would lose his trail. He disappeared from the pack mind. Embry tried to reach him, both mentally and physically, but he and Edward were too fast. They were gone, and Sam refused to allow anyone else to go after them, fearing retaliation from the rest of the coven and wanting to ensure the safety of the reservation.

With Jacob gone, Paul knew he needed to find another way to protect Leah from Sam. He was irrationally jealous, unstable, and downright dangerous. Paul wanted to beat him into submission, and he didn't doubt that he could best him in a fair fight. But Sam still had the power of the Alpha order, and he reveled in using it. Paul needed another way to get at him.

While Sue took Leah for an X-ray to check her leg, he went to Billy and recounted Leah's pursuit of Victoria and subsequent injury. The chief's eyes were open to the danger Sam posed. He agreed that something had to be done. He had hoped his son would be the one to restore order when he claimed his rightful title. Paul was frustrated at Jacob's abrupt departure. Billy countered that if Edward had killed a human, and he had admitted as much even if his motives were unclear, Jacob was right to pursue him. He was terrified for his son's safety, but he believed he had made a sound, moral decision. His only disagreement was with Sam, who made the decision not to send the rest of the pack to join in the pursuit. Paul then asked if there was any way to appoint a different Alpha in Jacob's absence. Billy confirmed what he had feared: their legends suggested an Alpha could only be deposed defeat in combat. While it was theoretically possible for any shifter to overthrow an Alpha and claim the title, Alpha orders made it nearly impossible. Those with stronger bloodlines had been known to defy such orders, just as Jacob had unwittingly done. Rarely, a sitting Alpha chose not to use the power to ensure a fair fight. They both knew Sam would never agree to such a thing. Billy urged patience. He insisted that Jacob would be back soon, willfully ignoring the possibility that Edward might kill his son. They would have to wait until his return, at which time Billy would urge him to fight Sam for the title.

Paul left, unsatisfied. He wasn't willing to wait. Directly challenging Sam would be foolish, but it couldn't be the only way to protect Leah. Sam had too many weaknesses. Leah herself was one of them. His obsession with her clouded his thinking. Moreover, he was far too arrogant and power-hungry for his own good. It kept him from listening to reason. But his biggest weakness had to be Emily. Paul witnessed the change he underwent when he imprinted. Before he looked into her eyes, he was a good leader. He was inexperienced, yes, naive and a little rigid in his thinking, but decent at heart and never dangerous. But Emily had changed him fundamentally. Now he was simply twisted, and Leah was the victim of his warped mind. Strong though she was, she was vulnerable, hampered by the traces of venom still infiltrating her body, her injuries, and by Sam's orders. Jacob's words had broken the constraints that kept her away from Paul, but they had not restored her memory.

Thankfully, Paul could speak to her, and the invisible barrier that kept them apart had dissolved, although she still had trouble expressing herself. Occasionally he could see that she was visibly struggling to find words, but by now he was very good at reading her. He could fill in the gaps based on context and what little she was able to say. Better yet, much of what she wanted to tell him could be communicated with a smile, mirthful or teasing glances, her soft hands, or the touch of her lips. He took advantage as best he could and hoped her injuries would heal quickly.

In the meantime, he had to ensure that Sam didn't ruin what they had managed to rebuild. Every minute he was away from her, he feared for her. He wasn't sure what Sam would do if no one was there to stop him. So Paul resolved not to leave her alone. She wouldn't like it, but frankly he didn't really care. She could be as irritated as she wanted, so long as she was safe. Her broken leg actually provided a good excuse. Paul stayed with her whenever possible, and he spoke with her mother and brother and outlined his concerns. They took him seriously, and Seth and Sue stayed home as much as they could. But inevitably, their schedules left gaps. Sue couldn't very well quit her job, and Seth couldn't miss any more days of school, and he still had to patrol. Paul wasn't sure what to do. Their other brothers were too busy to watch over her, nor did they understand the gravity of the situation. Billy was worried, but he was not in a position to assist with any of her physical needs. He certainly couldn't ask Emily or Kim. The only other person who was concerned at all was Rachel Black, because she had heard from her father that Leah had broken her leg. She planned to come home for summer break and was happy to lend a hand, but that was still a few weeks away, and in the meantime she and Leah spoke on the phone regularly. In the end, assistance came from the most unlikely place.

Two days later, Rosalie called the Clearwaters to say she was on her way to cast Leah's leg. Before Seth could respond, she hung up. He ran out the door, phased, and told Embry and Quil, who were patrolling, what was going on. They raced to the border and waited until a red BMW convertible arrived.

"Where's the doc?" Embry asked.

Rosalie peered at him over her sunglasses, wrinkling her nose at his musk. "At the hospital. The doctor who was supposed to take this shift had some kind of emergency, so he stayed to cover. He sent me to put Leah's leg in a cast."

Embry frowned. "Isn't she already in a cast?"

"No, she's in a splint. Unless her quick healing powers came back, she's going to need something stronger, otherwise it probably won't heal correctly."

Quil approached and quietly asked, "Does she have permission to be here?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. Despite how quietly he had whispered, she heard every word. "If she doesn't want my help, I've got better things to do." She shifted her gear stick into reverse.

"No, wait," Seth stopped her and turned to his brothers. "I'm not asking Sam for permission. I'm not sure what he'd say. But she helped Leah before, and she seems to know what she's doing."

"Ask for forgiveness instead of permission, huh?" Embry noted.

Seth snorted. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. She's trying to help, and I'm staying with her the whole time to make sure everyone's safe."

Rosalie sniffed. "How many times do I have to tell you people? I don't drink humans. Ever. And I'm offended by the implication."

Seth clarified, "I said I'm going to make sure everyone's safe, and everyone includes you."

"Okay, then." She leaned over and opened the passenger door. "Are you going to show me where I'm going, or do I have to guess?"

Seth paused momentarily before getting in and showing her the way. Embry and Quil flanked them on either side, hidden by the trees. When they arrived at the house, she and Seth went inside while they stayed outside to fawn over her car.

Leah sat up from her position on the couch with a startled expression. Before she could say anything, Rosalie explained, "Carlisle is still at the hospital. You get me instead. How're you feeling?"

Leah knew it wasn't a social question and explained that she was feeling better. Rosalie told her that her fracture was stable and did not require surgery, which was a relief. They would never have been able to explain her elevated temperature to a surgeon. Rosalie conducted a brief exam, checked her stitches, and replaced her bandages. Seth hovered nearby, periodically looking out the window to make sure Quil and Embry were still there. As Rosalie laid out her supplies, Leah asked her, "So, you're a doctor, huh?"

Rosalie shrugged. "Kind of. Went to med school. Twice."

"I thought about doing that. But med school tuition isn't exactly affordable. Nursing school was doable, though."

"Oh. Do you work around here? Carlisle didn't tell me."

Leah shook her head. "Can't work it in with the patrol schedule. Maybe if the murders stop, the boys can go actually graduate from high school, you know, once," she said pointedly, "and I can go back to work and do my NP degree." Rosalie didn't look up at her, and her expression remained unchanged, so Leah settled on chitchat. "What's your specialty?"

Rosalie shook her head. "Never did a residency."

"How come? You don't like it?" Seth asked.

Leah smirked. "High school just so amazing you just need to do it again and again?"

"It's definitely not that," Rosalie denied. "Everyone else seems to like high school, especially my husband. I... tag along."

"That sounds horrible." Leah didn't understand. "Once, sure, but how many times have you gone?"

"Too many," Rosalie mumbled.

Seth was curious, and he pressed further. "Are you done, then? Going to find something else to do?"

Rosalie shrugged again. "I'll do what the others want to do. We get away sometimes, me and Emmett, but when they want to go back to school, we go with them."

"I don't get it," Seth said.

Rosalie gave him a hard look. "I have my reasons."

Leah wondered what those reasons were, but she didn't think she would find out by asking. She tried to segue, "So why not do a residency? Too much work? Although I guess you don't need a job. It's not like you guys need the money."

She unwrapped Leah's splint, the cold touch of her fingers causing Leah to shiver. She hesitated. "I just... it's not for me." When the entire leg was exposed, she pressed on it carefully, causing Leah to hiss in pain. "Sorry. I was kind of hoping your healing powers would have kicked in by now. But we definitely need to cast this."

"How long?"

"If you're healing like a normal human, which it kind of looks like you are, probably six weeks. Less if your healing powers return."

Leah sighed. "Ugh. This sucks. It's going to itch like crazy."

"Let me clean it up first. You won't be able to wash it for a while, so I may as well do it now," Rosalie stepped away to wet a cloth.

Leah whined, "I have no idea how I'll go that long without phasing. Nobody better piss me off."

Seth laughed out loud. "Fat chance. Everything pisses you off."

Leah glared at him. "That's not true. If Sam and Emily would stay out of my way for a little while, I'd be fine."

Rosalie returned and began to soap off Leah's leg. Her movements were surprisingly gentle. "Sam's the one in charge, right?"

"Something like that," Leah answered, wondering about the kind gesture. She hadn't expected the vampire to take the time to clean her up.

"Who's Emily?"

Leah was cautious in her answer. "His fiancee."

"You're not his girlfriend?" Rosalie clarified.

Leah examined her closely. How much did the vampire know about them, and why was she asking? "That's a long story, but no, not anymore."

As she rinsed off Leah's leg, she said, "Hey, I'm not here to judge," although her tone implied otherwise. "It's just that when I overheard you guys, I had to wonder."

"Excuse me?" Leah asked, annoyed and confused. "Have you been spying on us?"

Rosalie glared right back at her. "Hey, you were on our land, not the other way around. I was just going out for a hunt. I can't help it if I heard you. It's not like you guys were making any attempt to be quiet."

Now Leah was truly perplexed. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Come on. Give up the innocent act. You know I was there, I heard the two of you."

"The two of who? When? What are you talking about?" Leah demanded.

"That night we ran into each other. Come on, you must remember. I know we didn't talk or anything, but it's not every day that we see each other. You're the gray one, right?"

Leah insisted, "Yeah. We saw each other, but not Sam. He wasn't there."

Rosalie smirked. "Of course he was. You guys were all over each other. I thought you were going to go at it right there on the ground..."

"Who, Paul?"

Rosalie shook her head. "No, Sam. I don't think I know who Paul is. Was he the other guy that interrupted you?"

"What? No. I was alone that night. I saw Sam, but it was way earlier."

Rosalie scoffed. "Sure, whatever you say." She shook her head and patted Leah's leg dry, then slipped a thin, open-toed stocking over it. "Whatever, it's none of my business anyway."

"No, I'm not telling you because there's nothing to tell. I was alone at night, and so were you…" She reached back into the recesses of her memory, trying to recall the events of the evening. She had talked to Sam, and he had told her to leave him and Emily alone, but he was nowhere nearby when she spotted Rosalie clinging to the branches of the tree. She had had an uneventful patrol, and that night had decided to break up with Paul. Although she did have to admit that none of the reasons she wanted to end things with him seemed significant. She certainly no longer wanted to be apart from him. And truth be told, very little that happened since then made sense, and her inability to touch him or talk to him was bizarre. At least that was getting better. But was he right? Had Sam issued some order she couldn't remember? "Wait, I think something maybe did happen. Can you tell me what you heard?"

Rosalie opened a roll of soft padding and wrapped it in large swaths around Leah's leg. "Why. Want to know how kinky it sounded?"

"Just humor me."

Seth was concerned. "What's she talking about, Leah?"

"I don't know. Rosalie, I honestly don't know what happened. I need you to tell me. It's important."

Rosalie paused and looked Leah in the eye, trying to gauge how serious she was. "Is something wrong?"

"Maybe. Probably."

Rosalie looked wary, but she agreed. "Okay. Just let me do this first. It's going to take a few minutes to set up anyway. Can you put your foot like this... yeah... hold it like that. Seth, can you hold her leg here? Okay. You're getting a pink cast, because that's what Carlisle stole from the hospital."

"Fantastic," Leah said dryly. "Maybe we can draw some flowers and hearts on it."

"You can paint it black to match your mood." Rosalie soaked her casting material and methodically unrolled it around Leah's leg in multiple layers. When she was done, she began. "So, I was going on a hunt. I smelled you before I saw you, and I heard voices. You sounded kind of pissed, but I couldn't hear what you were saying. I came to check it out, and by the time I was close enough to tell, it was just Sam talking. You didn't say anything. He was kind of all over you, telling you how much he missed you, how sexy you are, that kind of thing."

Leah's heart started to pound, and she felt flushed. She worked to keep her face neutral while Seth asked, "Leah? Is that true?"

"I don't know... Go on," she instructed, keeping her eyes fixed on an innocuous spot on the wall over Rosalie's shoulder. "What did he do?"

Rosalie looked worried, but continued. "Um, he was touching you, and he was talking about how you'll always look like you do now. He said something about eternal life. Is that true?"

"We stop aging while we're still phasing," Seth explained. "When we stop phasing, we start aging again."

"But in theory," Rosalie clarified, "you could just keep phasing and live forever?"

Blankly, Leah answered, "If we don't get killed by vampires first."

"Oh. I've never heard that before. After I heard what Sam said, I thought I must have misinterpreted what he said. I was wondering why none of the last pack was still around. I remember them, you know?"

"What else happened?" Leah asked in a falsely steady voice.

"Well, it didn't make a lot of sense to me at the time. He said that he would be Alpha basically forever, and that you'd be his mate. He was talking about Emily, too. That's why I was wondering about her. It kind of sounded like an affair, but I wasn't sure who was the other woman. He said you'd be his mate, but he was talking about her too, and I didn't get it at the time. He said you'd be his 'first love and his last love'. I didn't know, I don't know... Are you okay?"

Leah thought she was going to be sick. She held her hands to her stomach, trying to will herself not to throw up. She didn't know how, but she was absolutely certain that everything Rosalie said was the truth. "We were engaged," she explained quietly. "We were together for years. Then he turned into the wolf. I didn't know; it was before I turned too. He looked at Emily and he imprinted, and that was it. We were over, just like that."

Rosalie looked back and forth between Leah and Seth, not understanding. "He imprinted? What does that mean?"

Seth told her, "It's this thing that happens to some of us, not everybody. You look into the eyes of this one person, the imprint, and they're like..." For Leah's sake, he was cautious not to use the overused term of "soulmate". "They're like gravity, that's what they say. They become the most important person, the center of the universe. You're bound to them for life, and you become whatever they want you to be. Sam imprinted on Emily, our cousin, and..."

"Wait, your cousin?" Rosalie interrupted. "That's fucked up!"

"No shit," Leah agreed. "She was my best friend too, or so I thought."

"Oh, wow," Rosalie murmured. She started to pace, carefully piecing together what she could remember of the night in question. "It makes sense now. He said he must have imprinted on her so she could have his children, but you two were still supposed to be together. He said you'd be together after she was gone, that he'd be Alpha forever, and you'd be by his side..."

"Please tell me I decked him," Leah interrupted, her teeth gritted together. "Please tell me I grabbed him by his god damned balls and crushed them in my fist."

"Uh, no. I don't think so."

"What the hell did he do to my sister? You said he was all over her." Seth demanded. Leah wasn't sure she even wanted to know. The thought of Sam touching her made her stomach churn. "What did he do?"

"I'm not sure, exactly," Rosalie said. "Honestly, I wasn't looking at most of it. I was passing through, trying to stay downwind so you wouldn't notice me. I didn’t want you to see me, so I didn’t get too close. I just looked just to make sure no one was in trouble, since at first I thought I heard arguing. But when I got close enough to see, you were just standing there, and he was holding you, touching you. You weren't saying anything, and he was trying to be seductive, I guess. You were just listening, and he was doing stuff, and I thought you were into it. You were moaning and stuff. I wasn't trying to be a peeping Tom or anything, so I backed off a little."

Leah denied vehemently, "I wasn't. I wasn't into it."

"You said he was doing stuff. Doing what stuff?" Seth pressed. He looked angrier than Leah had ever seen him.

"Do you remember it?" Seth asked. "Is it coming back to you now?"

Leah trembled and tried not to phase. She was so angry that she was sure she would explode and re-fracture her leg and destroy her cast and the chair upon which she sat. She had flashes of recollection that coincided with Rosalie's words. She felt Sam's hands creeping up her shirt, her fists groping at her breasts, his tongue on the shell of her ear. "Kind of. She's right. That's what happened."

Seth's voice rose in pitch as he became alarmed. "What'd he do, Leah? What did that asshole do?"

Leah looked at Rosalie with fury in her eyes. "Please, tell me. I can only remember when you remind me. How far did he get?"

"I'm not sure, but this other guy interrupted. I don't know his name, but he was the one who came to get us when you got hurt."

"Jared," Leah saw his face in her mind. She remembered wishing he had showed up a few minutes earlier. "Jared was there."

"Yeah. He said he was checking on you, and he said something about Emily. Then he took off. I don't get it. Do you remember now? Did you forget?"

"Yeah. He must have done something..."

Rosalie remembered something suddenly and stopped pacing. "Well, he said something. He did tell you to forget. He said you were going to break up with some other guy, and he that none of it had happened, kissing you, touching you, that kind of thing."

"Motherfucker," Leah spat.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Seth growled. "I'm gonna tear him apart!"

Leah gripped the armrests of her chair so hard that they splintered under her fingers. "Leave some pieces for me. That fucking bastard!"

"Wait." Rosalie was perplexed. "I don't understand. Why are you getting so mad now? If you wanted to hit him, why didn't you do it then? I mean, you’re not exactly some damsel in distress. Why didn’t you just tell him to go fuck himself?"

"It was an Alpha order." Now Leah remembered everything. Rosalie had unlocked a door that Sam had closed, that he had managed to hide from her, from Paul, from the rest of the pack, and from Emily. "He fucking Alpha ordered me to forget. He ordered me to break up with Paul, told me I couldn't touch him, couldn't talk to him about anything except pack business. Before then, he told me not to move. That's why I didn't do anything when he touched me. He told me not to talk, so I couldn't say anything."

Rosalie stopped pacing and kneeled beside the chair. She put her cold, hard hand on Leah's and looked directly into her eyes with genuine sympathy. "I don't understand. Help me understand. Why couldn't you say anything? Why couldn't you move?"

"He ordered me. The Alpha has this power to order the rest of the pack. They can issue instructions that are more than instructions. It's basically unbreakable if they give that kind of an order. Like, if they order you to run, your legs just carry you off whether you want to or not. I literally couldn't do anything. I couldn't say anything."

"I'm gonna kill him," Seth growled. He was shaking even more violently than Leah.

"Don't phase in here!" Leah yelled. It was keeping every ounce of energy she had not to explode, and she couldn't let Seth phase either. "Don't phase at all! I don't want him knowing that I know, not that way! Embry and Quil are out there guarding us, and I think they’re both phased. They’ll see everything if you phase, and then Sam will know that I know. Calm down!"

"So? He may as well know I'm coming for him. It won't make a difference! Besides, I want everyone to know what a perverted lowlife he really is!"

Leah reminded him, "Except he'd probably just order us all to forget. He’d figure out a way to squirm out of it. No, we can't just go running off telling the pack. We have to figure out what to do first."

Seth started to pace in the same path Rosalie had used moments before. "Okay. Okay, you're right. You're right. God damn it!"

Leah wasn't surprised at her own reaction of fury, nor her brother's, but Rosalie shocked her. She looked just as angry as Seth. "So Sam was going to rape you, is that it? Is that what I almost saw? He was going to rape you, and I didn't do a damn thing about it. I could have stopped him, but I didn't know. My god, I am so sorry. If I had known, I'd have castrated him for you."

"It wasn't your fault," Leah said. "You had no idea."

"But I do now," Rosalie said. "I didn't stop him then, and it's just pure luck that that other guy came along and interrupted. If it weren't for that… My god, I thought you were into it. But it's not too late. I'll do it, honestly I will. He can't order me around. He can't do anything to me. He can try to fight back. I hope he tries to fight back. It'll give me an excuse to hurt him. I'll rip his balls off and shove them down his damn throat."

Leah was taken aback. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Dead serious."

"What... Why?"

"I meant it when I said I don't drink human blood," Rosalie vowed. "I have never, ever tasted human blood. I do not kill humans. My kind, we're monsters, pure and simple. I love my family, but I have no illusions about what we are. Human life is the most precious thing to me, do you understand? I was human, and I will never forget that. Being turned... Carlisle meant well. He was trying to save me when he turned me, and I will forever be grateful to him. But he turned me into a monster, a monster with a terrible thirst to kill. But the only humans I have ever killed were my murderers, my rapists. I killed them for what they did to me, but I did not spill a single drop of their blood. I have taken no other human lives. But I will hurt Sam for you, for what he did to you."

Leah and Seth stared at her in awe. "I... I don't know what to say."

"Just say yes. I'll do it if you want me to."

Leah considered her offer seriously, if only for a moment. But she knew what would happen if Rosalie attacked Sam. "I can't let you do that. I appreciate it, I really do, but it would start a war."

"He deserves it," Rosalie insisted.

"I know, and I don't disagree," said Leah. "But Jared is his second. He would retaliate. Some of the others might, too. Then your family would strike back, and people would die, probably on both sides."

"I can handle my family, and I can handle Jared," said Rosalie.

"Maybe you can handle Jared, maybe not. But your family?" Leah challenged. "You guys can't handle Edward. He killed that hiker, didn't he?"

Rosalie's face fell. "I don't know. I honestly don't."

"But you think he might have," Leah said quietly.

Rosalie looked at the floor. "He told me exactly what Carlisle told you, that he found Victoria after she already bit that man, and he tried to drain the venom. He did it for Bella, and it worked. But that man's bite was on his neck, and the venom was much closer to his heart..."

"Then why didn't he stop drinking as soon as he realized it was too late? " Seth asked. "If he had just stopped, that man would have turned into one of you, right? Or just left him alone in the first place and let him change? Isn't that what you guys do?"

"Carlisle. Carlisle does that. He did it for Edward first, then Esme, then me. He did it for my husband when I found him dying."

"You found your husband dying?" Seth asked.

"He had been attacked by a bear. Carlisle turned him for me."

"Why didn't you do it yourself?" Leah wanted to know.

Rosalie sighed. "I told you. I don't drink human blood. I was afraid I might not be able to stop in time, and honestly, it's important to me not to drink from humans. I might be a monster, but I have morals. I couldn't stand to have his death on my hands."

"Does the rest of your family feel so passionately about not killing?" Leah asked perceptively. "Edward? How does he feel? Has he ever killed anyone?" Rosalie's silence was enough of an answer. "He has, hasn't he?"

"I think they all have," Rosalie admitted softly. "Except Carlisle. He's only ever bitten us to turn us, to save us."

"But Edward?"

"Edward went through a phase when he quenched his thirst by killing those that he deemed unworthy of life. Criminals, murderers, rapists, that sort of thing."

"That's what he told you?" Leah pressed.

"Yes.”

Leah asked, “Do you believe him? How do you know he didn't kill that hiker himself?"

"I don't," Rosalie admitted. "But I don't know that he killed him, either. What he said? It's really quite plausible. He might have tried to drain a lot of blood, because the venom was in the carotid or the jugular or both, and there was no way to it out without killing the man. He really might have been trying to help."

"Then why didn't you say so? Why didn't you tell Jared when he came to your house?"

Rosalie looked her in the eye again, and Leah felt she was telling the truth. "I didn't know what happened. Edward had gotten home just a little bit earlier, but I didn't see him. He was talking to Carlisle and Esme in the study, and I think he talked to Jasper and Alice too. I didn't know anything had happened. They were whispering really quietly, so quietly even I couldn't hear them. I did wonder why. Then Esme came out and went to the door, and that’s when Jared showed up. But you know, if Edward hurt someone, he wouldn't tell me. None of them would, if they killed someone."

Leah asked, “Why not? In a house with a mind-reader and a psychic, what’s the point of trying to keep secrets?”

Rosalie’s voice was quiet but full of conviction. “Because they know I’ll kill them if they ever hurt a human being.”

"But they've all killed humans. You said so," Seth said.

"I think so, but they hide it from me. Jasper for sure. He was with a pretty brutal group before he found us. He changed his diet to stay with us. Carlisle didn't turn Alice. James, the one who attacked Bella, Victoria’s mate, he turned Alice. She found us. Before she came to us she fed on humans. Esme's been with Carlisle since before I turned, and I've never seen evidence of her killing humans, but sometimes..."

"Sometimes?" Leah prompted.

"Every once in a while, one or two of us disappears without warning. Takes a last minute trip. I've always wondered why. I’ve had my suspicions, but I can’t be sure of anything."

Leah pressed harder. "Even your husband? Even you?"

"Never me. Not ever. Not for that. My husband, he met two of his singers, and he couldn't stop himself." Her face crumpled as she admitted it.

But neither Seth nor Leah knew what she meant. Seth asked, "What's a singer?"

"Someone with irresistible blood. Their blood calls to you, sings to you. Someone you have no chance of resisting. Like Bella."

"Bella?" Seth asked.

Rosalie explained, "She's Edward's singer. He's managed to resist her so far, which is amazing. Incredible. We thought it was impossible."

"That's insane!" Leah yelled. "Does Bella know that?"

"She does. She thinks it's romantic. I've tried to tell her, but she won't listen."

"But now he's gone, right? She's out of danger?"

"For now." Rosalie nodded. "I told him to stay away from her. I told her to stay away from us. But she keeps coming back. I don't know how to stop her. I don’t know how to help her, because she refuses to be helped."

"What'd you do when your husband killed his singers?" Seth asked. His tone was gentle, because he could see how conflicted Rosalie was.

She buried her face in her hands. "Nothing. I didn't do anything. I should, I know it. I should kill every vampire I find, everyone except Carlisle, maybe. But you don't understand. They're all I have. Everyone else really is a monster, but at least they're trying. And Emmett, he’s the love of my life. I just can’t do it. I should, but I just can’t do it." She looked up. "I don't want to be this, do you understand? I don't want this. But I am, and I can't turn back time. I can be alone forever, for all of eternity, literally, or I can have my family. But they know how I feel. Carlisle hates it when anyone kills a human, but he understands. He's sympathetic. I'm not."

Perceptively, Leah guessed, “That’s why you keep going to school with them, isn’t it? To protect the kids in the school from your family? To make sure no one gets hurt?”

Rosalie nodded. “Yeah. I’d rather do what Carlisle does, but I have to make sure no one gets hurt.”

"So Edward would never tell you if he killed that guy," Seth said.

Leah continued, "And he told you a plausible story, one you can't prove or disprove."

"But you think he killed the hiker.” Rosalie knew. “Do you have any proof? Did he admit it to Jacob? Is that why they're both gone?"

"He didn't admit it in words, but he was way too defensive, and he threw the first punch. I'm pretty sure he did it." Leah gave her honest opinion. "If he had tried to save that guy, he'd asked Carlisle for help, right? Or told you all what happened as soon as he got back to the house?"

Rosalie was crestfallen. She and Edward didn't always get along, but she loved him like a brother. Quietly, she whispered, "This is going to tear the family apart."

"Jacob's not going to let him get away with it," Seth said firmly.

"What choice will he have?" Rosalie challenged. "Edward can read minds. He can see every move someone will make against him just before it happens. And he's the fastest vampire I've ever seen. If Jacob manages to catch up with him, he'll have to fight him and win, and Edward is very, very hard to beat."

"Jake can take care of himself!" Seth insisted.

They looked at each other in awkward silence until Rosalie changed the subject back to Sam. "So, I meant it when I said I’d hurt Sam for you. I feel terrible that I didn't stop him when I could have. I should have realized how creepy he was being, how off he was. What can I do to help?"

Leah started to say, "You've done plenty, thank you. I don't think..."

"No, wait," Seth held his hand out and stopped his sister. "If she wants to help, we should let her. Rosalie, one of us has been staying with Leah whenever we can in case Sam comes around, but we can't be here all the time. I thought it was okay for her to be by herself for a while, but now that we know just how low Sam will stoop..."

"Consider me your bodyguard," Rosalie grinned wickedly. "I just hope he comes around and gives me an excuse to strangle him.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my beta, Babs81410.


	26. Irony

Leah told Paul a limited version of the truth. The second he found out exactly what Sam had done, he would try to kill him. Before anyone challenged Sam, he had to be stripped of his Alpha powers. And if Sam figured out what she knew, the consequences could be dire. There was nothing to stop him from wiping her memory again, not to mention Paul's, or that of anyone else in the pack who came too close to the truth. She told him as much as she could, which wasn't very much. He knew there was more, and he hated being in the dark. But she asked him to trust her, and he did. He wasn't happy, but he would do anything he could to help, even stop asking questions.

However, he suggested that she tell her mother whatever she couldn’t tell him. Sam couldn’t pry anything from her brain without her permission, and her mother loved Leah fiercely and would do anything in her power to protect her. Leah didn’t want to; she was too embarrassed. But after Paul left, Seth reminded her that the only other person who knew the truth was Rosalie. If Sam managed to destroy their memories, no one but a vampire would know what had happened. No one would believe her word against Sam’s.

Sue was absolutely livid. They had never seen her so angry. Leah was certain that she would have phased if she could have. She wanted to get Harry's shotgun and take care of Sam herself, once and for all, and had he been anywhere in sight, they probably wouldn't have been able to stop her. As it was, they barely managed to keep her in the house. Once she calmed down, she helped them figure out a way to keep Seth apart from Sam. Leah wasn’t supposed to phase until her leg healed, but Seth still had to patrol. He would inevitably reveal their conversation with Rosalie to Sam. Their telepathy, while vitally important in battle, made secrets very difficult to keep. Leah was stunned that Sam had managed to hide his intentions toward her, and she suspected it was another Alpha power. Seth had no such protection.

Sue formally asked Sam and the council to reduce the number of wolves on patrol during each shift from two to one. With Leah and Jacob out of the rotation, the schedule was untenable. She insisted that the boys spend more time in school and less time in the woods. And since Victoria was dead, they should not require the same level of protection. Old Quil pointed out that they were now more concerned about the Cullens, not less. Sue retorted that Jacob had chased off the biggest threat, Edward, and the rest of the coven would be on their best behavior knowing that the pack was watching them so closely. The council agreed, so Seth did not have to patrol alongside Sam any longer, and Sue reworked the schedule so that they rarely signed out to one another. Seth was relieved.

Sue also tried to get special permission for Rosalie to come onto the reservation to help Leah, saying that her daughter would need assistance when neither she nor Seth was available. No one supported the idea, not even Paul. Allowing a vampire onto their lands was simply not safe, even if she had saved Leah’s life. Sue argued that she was obviously able to control her thirst, even when leaning over a puddle of Leah's blood. She had also revealed more about her family than she should have, far more. But the opposing vote was unanimous. Sam offered Emily’s help, but Sue bluntly declined.

They decided that when Sue worked and neither Paul nor Seth was available to stay with Leah, one of them would drop her off in town. Leah was welcome to come to Rosalie’s house, but she wanted nothing to do with the other vampires. Rosalie, on the other hand, she genuinely liked. The vampire was just as witty and sarcastic as she was, and they had a lot in common. Both were unwillingly supernatural, neither really fit in with the rest of their companions, and they each kept secrets they could reveal only to a few. The first time they met, Rosalie treated Leah to a pedicure, commenting that if the only parts of her foot she could see were her toes, they may as well look good. Leah tried to refuse, but Rosalie didn't leave her with a choice. She practically dragged Leah to the salon and convinced her to get her nails painted a bright, striking blue. For the first time in months, Leah felt like a girl. It was a refreshing change. Afterward, they went to a coffee shop, where Rosalie teased her about her appetite before lamenting about how much she missed the taste of human food. Now it tasted like ashes and dust in her mouth, and her digestive system had no way to process it.

A little later, Leah noticed Rosalie looking forlornly at a young mother pushing her infant down the street in a carriage. "Did you have kids before you were turned?" she asked.

Rosalie smiled sadly. "No. I wanted them, though, badly. I was engaged but not married yet. I thought we'd have babies, but, well, my fiancé was the one…"

Leah read the rest by the expression on her face. Her jaw dropped open. "He’s the one who hurt you?" Rosalie didn't speak. She only nodded. "Wow," Leah breathed. "And I thought my ex was bad."

Firmly, Rosalie countered, "Your ex is bad. This isn't a competition, anyway."

"I guess I understand why you were so ready to help me."

Rosalie smiled and shrugged. "I might have been projecting a little."

Leah asked, "Do you ever get the chance to make friends? Human ones or other vampires? It seems like you guys move around a lot, and I hear you mostly kept to yourself at school."

"We do, but we try to start school as young as possible so that we don’t have to move again right away. Three or four years in one place ought to be enough time to make friends, at least casually, but no. The fact is, we stick to ourselves. I want to get to know other people, believe me, because eternity is long and lonely, and hanging around the same six people for years on end is very tedious."

"Tell me about it," Leah sighed. "I've only been back here for about a year, and the pack is driving me crazy. And seeing each other's thoughts? It's just not right."

"I do pity Edward that. I think his brain is a cacophony of endless noise whenever he's within a mile of anyone."

Leah glanced at her. "Did it make him crazy, you think?" She meant the question literally.

Rose wrapped her hands around a steaming mug of coffee that she had no intention of drinking. After a long pause, she answered, "It might have, and eternity itself. As much as I dislike Bella, he can't hear her thoughts, which has to be an enormous relief. The time gets to be too much, and when he can only get peace and quiet by being totally alone... We can't even fall asleep to break up the cycle between day and night. I miss dreaming, and I miss resting. We don't get physically tired, but sleep isn't just for your body, you know? It's for your mind, too. I don't know. We all probably go a little crazy from the boredom alone."

Leah wanted to know, "Why do you stay with them? When you talk about them, I'm not really clear that you even like them."

"My family? I worry about what they might do if I'm not there to stop them. Plus it's possible to love someone without liking them," Rosalie commented. "That's how I feel about them sometimes. I mean, they are my family, one way or another, or the closest I will ever get. They're all I have. They're not perfect, far from it. They're monsters. But then again, so am I. I have no illusions about that, even though some of us have fooled ourselves into thinking otherwise. But others of our kind are truly horrible. The worst of my family still has a conscience. That's rare, and it’s valuable. It seems to be completely absent in the other vampires I’ve met."

"Are there others like you? Others with your diet?"

Rosalie nodded. "A few. Sometimes we spend time with a coven in Alaska. They also drink animal blood. But we haven't encountered any others. I would rather spend more time making friends with humans, I honestly would, but it just isn't safe for them. There are too many risks. It's too likely that they can figure out what we are, and humans who know about us don't survive for long."

"Why is that?"

"Vampires follow very few rules. Only one, really. We have to keep our existence a secret. The penalty for revealing ourselves is death, not just for us, but for the poor person who finds out about us. There's a very powerful society that makes sure of it."

Leah had wanted to ask about Charlie Swan’s misguided daughter for a long time. "Then what about Bella? How did she find out, and what's going to happened to her?"

Rosalie huffed in frustration, leaning back in her chair and gritting her teeth. "That was Edward’s fault. He let her get too close. She figured it out, and they became obsessed with each other. Now she wants to be one of us, and I can't figure out how to convince her otherwise. She doesn't realize, even though Edward himself has told her, that it isn't worth it. She willfully refuses to see the dark side. I mean," Rosalie gestured at herself, "this is all just for show. This is pretty packaging meant to hide something awful. It's a shiny bauble that catches our prey’s eyes to make them come closer so we can eat them!"

Leah thought about their absurd, glittering skin and barely suppressed a giggle. "You're not awful. I'm sure of it. The rest of your family? I don't know about them, but you're not a monster."

“That's kind of you to say, but I am, and I know it. I’m just too stubborn to give into that side of me. Bella just doesn't understand. She won't acknowledge how brutal we are. I suppose it's our own fault. We try to hide our base natures with this veneer of control, of wealth, of beauty. She thinks it's glamorous. She wants to live forever, and she refuses to think about how painful it is to watch everyone you know die one by one. She won't even consider the fact that if she becomes one of us, her thirst won't be something she can just ignore. I mean, there are thousands of vampires in the world, and what, maybe a dozen of us don't drink human blood? And Carlisle is the only one I know of who never committed a murder. What are the odds that she’ll never kill anyone? Infinitesimally small. The fact that she’s willing to take this on voluntarily makes her morally bankrupt, as far as I’m concerned.”

"I take it you don't want to add her to the small circle of people you have to spend forever with, do you?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "It goes both ways, you know. She thinks I'm shallow and vain."

Leah was surprised. "She said that? Really?" She had a hard time imagining Bella confronting anyone with such a statement. She had a hard time imagining Bella confronting anyone about anything.

Rosalie waved her hand. "Oh, not to my face. But I know what she thinks of me. You don't have to read minds to know. I hear her talking to Edward or Alice about me, because she forgets how good our hearing is. Somewhere along the way, she pigeonholed me. She's decided I'm a vapid, egotistical airhead. She thinks I spend hours putting on makeup and getting dressed, but it's like she got me confused with Alice. My sister is the one who's always trying to use Bella like some kind of dress up doll. She says she hates it, but for someone who says she doesn't care about her looks, she sure accepts a lot of free designer clothes and high-end makeup. I'll admit I like to look good, but it isn't as if I'm primping in front of a mirror for hours on end. The only reason I put on makeup is to try to blend in a little better. I spend about 20 seconds putting on some powder every day to tone down the disco-ball effect."

Leah took her head to the side inquisitively. "Do you think she's projecting on you?"

Rosalie agreed. "People who won't shut up about how little they care about their appearance really, really care about their appearance. I mean, she's furious about turning eighteen. She's been hounding Edward to turn her before her birthday so that she's not 'older' than him."

Leah found this fact ridiculous. "Wait, isn't he, like, a hundred years old or something? He's a creepy old man hitting on a child, basically."

Rosalie slapped her hand down on the table. "Yes! Exactly! He's old enough to be her great grandfather! Every single one of us is ancient, and she can't handle turning eighteen! Come on, if I could choose a moment in time to be frozen in, it wouldn't be that young! You can't vote, can't get most jobs without a fake ID, can't rent a car. It's such a pain!"

"Although, let's face it. It doesn't sound like she ought to have the right to vote," Leah snickered.

Rosalie laughed out loud. "Good point. Ugh. I can’t tell if it’s willful ignorance, stupidity, vanity, or blindness. She just has no sense of perspective."

"Do you know what she's planning on telling Charlie if she's turned? Can she tell him anything?"

"No! She absolutely can't tell him anything. His life would be at risk, and not just because of the bloodthirst she'll have as a newborn. If he knew anything about our existence, and anyone found out, he would be killed."

"So what, is she just going to avoid him? He's going to notice she looks different. She’s not going to age. And the second he touches her, he’ll know something’s wrong. He's not stupid."

Rosalie wasn't certain. "She hasn't talked to me about it, but I don't think she has much of a plan. She's debating between a slow fade with a few phone calls and, well, just vanishing. That's what Jasper thinks she should do."

Leah, whose family had just been devastated by the loss of Harry, had absolutely no sympathy for Bella. "What? But he's her dad! She can't just disappear!"

"Technically, she can," Rosalie sighed. "We're experts at disappearing. Most likely, she'll want to fake her own death so he doesn't look for her."

Leah thought this was infuriating. "You have to be kidding me. I literally cannot think of a crueler thing to do to your own parent. Charlie loves her. He would be crushed. It would gut him. I know you don't know him well, but he was a really good friend of my dad. She hardly ever came to see him. Actually, for years she refused to come."

"Why?"

Leah waved her hand dismissively. "Some stupid excuse. She said it was too cloudy."

"That's not a reason," Rosalie frowned.

"No shit. The reason is because she was a damn brat. He pretended like it was fine, but you could see how hurt he was. But when she did visit? He was like a whole other person, even when she was sulking or being pissy for no good reason. He was so happy just to have her here. And every time she left, it was like all the light just went out of him. No. She can't do that, Rose. It's too thoughtless and cruel, even for her."

Rosalie held her hands up. "Hey, you're preaching to the choir here. I don't agree with it either. I don't agree with any of it. If she turns, she's going to regret it. Money, long life, power, none of it's worth it. I've tried to tell her, but she won't listen to me. Even Edward has tried to tell her."

"If Edward doesn't want her to turn, then why is that even still an option?"

Rosalie explained, "Well, he’s as obsessed with her as she is with him. He can’t read her mind for some reason, and the quiet from her brain is really peaceful to him. He has that with no one else. He used to tell her that he would stay with her for as long as she lived, because he wanted her to stay human."

A look of confusion crossed Leah's face. "Wait, stay with her? As a couple?”

“Something like that.”

“How would that even work? Could they ever have sex or anything?”

Rosalie snorted. “Not if he wanted her to live. I mean, it’s technically possible to have sex with a human without killing them, but most of us don’t have the self-control. But you’re assuming Edward wants to have sex with her. He doesn’t. He’s a virgin.”

Leah blinked slowly. “A hundred year old virgin? You’re kidding me!”

“A hundred year old, stuck up, Victorian, virgin prude. It’s hysterical. It’s my favorite thing about him, because it amuses me to no end. Trust me. He’s terrified of sex, honestly." She idly picked up her spoon and started to swirl it in her drink. "You know, Carlisle created me to be his mate.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. He didn’t ‘save’ me for the sake of saving me, Leah. I mean, if turning humans into vampires was a truly altruistic, noble thing to do, he’d do it left and right. But he’s only done it four times in hundreds of years. Once because Edward’s mother begged him and he was lonely, once to make his own mate, me, and once because I begged him when Emmett was dying. But I was supposed to be a present for Edward."

“That’s crazy! Didn’t he find you after you’d been assaulted?”

Sarcastically, Rosalie said, “Because who’s a better candidate to be the mate of an immortal, bloodthirsty monster than a teenage girl who’s just been gang-raped to brink of death?”

Leah’s jaw dropped open. “That's sick! I... I don’t know what to say, Rose."

“Trust me, neither did I.” Rosalie laughed bitterly.

"Did he ask you if you wanted help? Did he tell you what he was going to do?"

Rosalie had to let go of her spoon before she accidentally bent it in half. "I was unconscious. I had passed out from pain, or blood loss, or something. And when I woke up, it was to a whole new world of agony. My veins were being filled with acid. t was awful. One nightmare turned into another. I had no idea what was going on. I was scared out of my mind. I didn’t stop screaming for, I don’t know. Hours? Days?"

"Sounds like phasing for the first time," Leah noted. "Damn. What is it with you and me, huh?"

Rosalie looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Leah hesitated briefly, not sure how much she felt like sharing. But Rosalie had just bared her heart, and they hardly knew each other. "The first time I phased, no one was expecting it. Girls aren't supposed to phase. I'm the only one, ever, as far as we know. I came home for spring break. It was supposed to be a week's visit. I thought I got sick, Seth and I had these awful fevers. My temperature was through the roof, 108, 109 degrees, every cell of my body on fire. It was like somebody stretched me out on a medieval torture device, like a rack or something, or was trying to draw and quarter me. It lasted for days. I was delirious. I got into a fight with my dad, and, well, I exploded. It was like my whole body was a bomb, and I detonated. I burst out of my own body, into this creature. I had absolutely no idea what was going on, none. Nobody told us anything, gave any hint to what was going on. Seth phased after seeing me. He was as scared as I was. I could hear him screaming in my brain. And my dad, my dad..." She swallowed thickly. "He had a heart attack, he was so shocked. Died that night."

"Leah, I'm so sorry," Rosalie breathed. Her new friend's transformation story was just as bad as hers.

"It's okay," Leah said, even though it really wasn't.

Understanding crossed the vampire's face. "Oh, god. I really am sorry, though. If we hadn't come back here... I wish we never came back here!"

"I wish a lot of things." Leah laughed sardonically.

“Honestly, though, I’m so sorry. Of all the places in the world… I’d change it if I could, I swear.”

"Can't turn back time, though. But I'll let you know if I figure out how.” After a pause, Leah asked, “What the hell was Carlisle thinking when he turned you?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "That I looked awfully pretty underneath all the blood and bruises, that Edward wasn’t getting any, and that I was about to die. You know, the makings of an epic love story. It’s a damn good thing he’s practically asexual. If he had ever tried anything with me, I’d have ripped off his dick and set it on fire. You know, Bella thinks I’m jealous of her because he wants her when he never wanted me, but…”

“I can’t imagine you ever wanted Edward.”

“I was too traumatized to want anyone, let alone Edward. I guess I got lucky that he's such a prude. He never felt threatening or anything, which was good for me back then. And even if it weren't for what had just happened to me, we'd have never been romantic. I could never see him that way. He's too effeminate for my taste, not to mention pretentious. He takes himself way too seriously, he's too depressed all the time, and he has no sense of humor. Some girls go for that sort of thing, but not me."

Leah mused, "But Bella thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread."

"Apparently. She's concocted some fantasy life in her brain, and he's at the center."

"And that fantasy doesn't include her getting old and wrinkly while he still looks seventeen?"

Rosalie visibly relaxed now that they were off the subject of their agonizing metamorphoses. "Exactly. As you can imagine, that didn't really appeal to her. But he swears it's what he really wants."

Leah stared at her with a blank expression. "I don't get it."

"Fantastic, isn't it?" Rosalie cackled. "He wants her to stay human. He drones on and on about her immortal soul, and how he doesn't want to damn her. But really, if he doesn't change her, he has this built-in excuse not to have sex with her. She's so sexually frustrated. It's hilarious. You can smell her desperation, just like you can smell his terror at the very idea."

"So she's crazy horny and he's, what, gay?"

"The thought has crossed my mind. His balls practically retract into his body when she comes near. I've seen them 'kissing' a few times. It's the funniest thing ever. She drapes herself over him, and she tries so hard to make out. She'd strip him naked and climb right on if he’d let her. But he kisses her the way boys barely peck their aunties on the cheek, and then he pries her off. It's fabulous!"

"What on earth are they doing?"

Rosalie sighed. "I don't know. They could pull off a human-vampire marriage for a little while, maybe even a decade or two, but she'd start to look like some cradle robber pretty fast, or really, people would assume she was his mother. I can see why she doesn't want to do that. But it doesn't mean he should turn her."

"It means he should leave her alone. It means she should move on with her life," Leah finished.

"Exactly," and Rosalie agreed. "But Edward isn’t willing to let her go, not really. He’d rather turn her than give her up. He's been lonely for a very long time. I honestly think he's never fallen for anyone before because of his ability. He sees too much, knows too much.”

“Has he dated other women before? I know you said he’s a virgin, but has he even gotten close?”

“I think that when we left Forks for a little while, there may have been someone. I’m not sure. He ran off, separated from the rest of the family after he dumped Bella. I don’t know exactly where he went, but I think he tried to see other women. I get the impression he was trying to get over her. I’m not sure. He’d never tell me, but I overheard him saying something to Alice. But they shut up as soon as they realized I could hear them. Either way, other women just don’t hold his interest. There's no mystery to anyone in the world except her, you know? He can see everyone's flaws instantaneously, but not hers."

"They aren't obvious enough as it is?" Leah was skeptical.

Rosalie explained, "He has grown so reliant on his ability that his other senses are dulled. Not the vampire senses, of course. Our sense of smell is probably almost as acute as yours, vision like a hawk, that kind of thing. But reading body language? Subtle distinctions of language? Why pay attention to that when you can just read someone's mind? She's a lovely mystery to him. So I get why he fell for her, and why he wants to keep her. But what he's doing, what our whole family is doing with that girl, it's just too selfish. But no one's listening to me. I've been outvoted, quite literally."

For some reason, Leah thought this was rather funny. "You guys actually voted?"

"Yeah. I'm the only one who thinks it's a bad idea. Alice wants another sister. She had a vision of Bella as a vampire, and she can’t let go of it. She got the whole family worked up, so even before we actually met her, Esme decided she wanted another daughter. Jasper will agree with whatever Alice thinks. My husband thinks it's fantastic. Carlisle wants Edward to be happy."

"All at the expense of her life, and the lives of any humans she'll kill later."

Rosalie hunched over the table, staring sightlessly into the wood grain somberly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but part of me hopes Jacob comes back without my brother. If he really killed that man..."

"The question isn't 'if', Rose," Leah pointed out. "By his own admission, he accidentally killed him while trying to save him. And that's the best case scenario. At the very least, he should have stopped drinking before it was too late, and then the man would have turned. Not that I'm suggesting you guys make a habit of that. But the worst case scenario is much, much worse. He probably just murdered him."

"I know," Rosalie sighed. “It’s possible, I know.”

"The way he reacted when Jake confronted him? It wasn't the reaction of an innocent man. Something bad happened out there. Jacob's not just going to let him get away with it."

Rosalie looked up and retorted, "If he can catch Edward. Even if he can do that, Edward's not going down without a fight. Like I said, he's very hard to kill."

"How is the rest of your family handling all this?" Leah asked.

Rosalie shrugged and looked away again. "I don't know. Carlisle and Esme are worried out of their minds. Emmett's sulking, which is really weird for him. I haven't actually seen Alice and Jaz around. I don’t know where they are. I don't think they want to talk to me very much. "

"Why not?"

Rosalie started to fidget in her chair. It was the most uncomfortable Leah had seen her. "Like I told you, they all know how I stand. If Edward killed him on purpose, I'd kill him myself, or at least try to. They know it, and they hate me for it."

"So if Jacob catches him," Leah understood, "you don't have to do the dirty work."

Now Rosalie looked positively despondent. "You shouldn't hang around me, Leah. Vampires are very selfish."

Leah gave her a very warm and genuine smile. "In that case, you're doing a terrible job of being a vampire, Rose. I think you may be one of the least selfish people I've ever met, and the one thing that is supposed to define vampires, you refuse to do. You're a good friend, both to me and to Bella, even if she refuses to see it. I'm not sure you even quality as a vampire."

Rosalie's stony features somehow softened. "That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me in a very long time."

X-x-x-x-X

Paul stared at the computer so long without doing anything that the screen went to sleep. He was lucky that calculus came so easily to him. He hadn't submitted homework for weeks, but if he did well on this test, he could squeak by with a passing grade. He just had to pay attention long enough to finish it. He yawned hugely and clicked the mouse to reactivate the computer, and fifteen minutes later he was finished. Thankfully, his last period was physical education. It didn't matter how sleep deprived he was; he could still shoot three-pointers and dribble circles around his opponents. He tried to take it easy on the other guys, but his team still won the game by a margin of twenty-two points.

After the final bell rang, he stopped at the border to pick up Leah from Rosalie. Sam crouched in the tree line, paws itching to leap at the vampire. Instead he watched them from the trees, glaring at them and ensuring that Rosalie didn’t take one step onto tribal lands. Paul ignored him and grabbed Leah by the hips and pulled her flush against him, kissing her softly. He heard Sam’s growl and deepened the kiss. When he let her go, he screwed up his face and said, "I think I like doing that better when you haven't spent the entire day with a vampire. You kind of stink."

Rosalie flipped him the bird and drove off, complaining that he was a mutt that needed to be hosed down.

Leah tried to tell him that it was his bright idea never to leave her alone, but the words wouldn't come. Instead she playfully rubbed herself against him to transfer the odor. "Hah," she said firmly.

He chuckled and shrugged nonchalantly as he heard Sam back away to continue his patrol. "I suppose that's fair. Anyway, it’ll give me an excuse to wash this smell off of both of us when we get you back to your house."

She cocked an eyebrow in response. "You're going to be really late for your shift." She was still able to discuss pack business, at least.

"Yeah.” He glanced at Sam’s retreating tail. Under his breath, he whispered, “You think I care about being late?"

She grinned at him and let him lead her into his truck. He was 45 minutes late, and he arrived covered in Leah's scent.   
  
Sam was livid, but Paul didn't care at all. Sam tried to pretend that he was only mad at Leah for spending time with one of the Cullens, but they both knew he was jealous. Paul found himself in the unusual position of defending a vampire. Sam feared Leah would share important information with the enemy. Paul countered that the opposite was happening. She was learning a lot of valuable information about the coven by spending time with one of its members. Sam argued that it was dangerous. Paul pointed out that they hadn't risked anyone on the reservation; the girls spent the day in Forks. Sam accused Paul of being careless with Leah's safety. Paul snapped that Sam had done more to hurt her than anyone, so as long as he stayed away from her, she would be fine. Besides, there was no one else available to help Leah while she was injured. Sam said that Emily was happy to help. Leah was only being petty by not accepting the offer. Paul thought he must be kidding. Rosalie had already done more good for Leah in a few short days than Emily had over a lifetime. Emily obviously took a sadistic joy in hurting Leah as much as possible, and if she ever wanted to spend time with her, it was only so she could rub her relationship with Sam in Leah's face. Sam was tempted to order Paul not to speak, but issuing such declarations out of anger didn't end well. He phased out in sullen silence.

Paul decided to follow Sam at a distance. As far as he was concerned, Sam was as much of a threat to Leah as any vampire. He wished he could blow off patrol to stay with her, but that would definitely result in disciplinary action. He couldn't wait until the day that her ex no longer had influence over them. Jacob couldn't come home fast enough.

He waited until Sam was completely out of range and then followed his scent. He was relieved when he realized it led to Sam's cabin rather than Leah's house. He crept close enough to confirm that Sam was inside with Emily. Through a window, he saw her speaking on her cell phone to someone. Sam was moving around behind her doing domestic chores. As far as he could tell, there was nothing worth sticking around for, so he made a loop around the house in order to stay out of sight. His path took him around the side, past the open-air car port.

Suddenly, the side door opened. Sam came out bearing a trash bag. Paul barely managed to duck behind Emily's car in time. He was sure Sam would hear his heartbeat or notice his scent, but he got lucky. The headphones in his ears muffled any sounds Paul made, and the pungent garbage masked Paul's musk. Sam just dropped the bag in the can and went back inside. Paul waited a minute, then lifted his head carefully, making sure no one would see him. A flash of reflected light caught his eye. Under the passenger seat of Emily's car, he spotted an expensive silver smartphone. What was that doing there? It definitely wasn't Sam's; Paul knew what his looked like. And Emily had hers in her hand. She was still talking on it.

He phased into his human body, carefully opened the door, and picked up the phone. He turned it on and saw a notification icon for a voicemail. He tried listening, but he couldn't access anything else without the passcode. He turned it over in his hand, but short of stealing it and finding someone to hack it for him, it wouldn't tell him anything. He gently replaced it, closed the door with a quiet click, and crept away from the house.

He ran several loops around the border, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the phone. He had a bad feeling about it, although he couldn’t explain why. Emily had probably given someone a ride in her car, and they must have dropped it. It was the most likely explanation. But Emily didn’t have many friends. Pack members were at their house constantly, but he didn’t think anyone used that model, although he didn’t keep track. Emily was very close to Kim, but she couldn’t afford a phone as expensive as that. If she wanted one, though, Jared would have sold his soul to buy it for her. Or maybe it belonged to an elder? The question nagged at him.

After Quil came to relieve him, he phased into his human body and jogged back toward Sam’s cabin. When he got there, the only light came from the bedroom. He peered between the crack in the curtains. Emily was flipping through a magazine, and Sam was snoring beside her. Paul suppressed a snort. Sam was such an old man. It was way too early to be tired. He tiptoed around to the car; the phone was right where he left it. He circled the cabin, looking for signs that anything else was out of place, but he found nothing. Dissatisfied, he started to walk away. Something was off, but he wasn’t going to figure out what it was by staring at the cabin while its inhabitants slept. He started to walk to the Clearwater house. Sue would feed him, and then he could pretend to leave and sneak back in Leah’s window.

The snick of a latch stopped him. He turned around, and through the trees he saw a shadow moving in the car port. It was too short to be Sam, so he crept closer. Emily opened the car’s passenger door, and a flood of light from the interior illuminated her flannel nightgown and ratty slippers. She opened the glove compartment, rooted around in it, and made a sound of frustration. But then she found the phone where it had slipped to the floor. She sat in the passenger seat and shut the door. While she unlocked the phone and put it to her ear, Paul moved as close as he could, but he didn’t want to get spotted. He wished he could hear what she was listening to, because an expression of alarm crossed her face, and she cursed. She frantically jabbed at the screen and muttered, “Pick up. Pick up, damn it.” Then she said, “Hey, it’s me. I got your message. Sorry I couldn’t pick up earlier. I couldn’t get away from Sam.” She paused and frowned. “Hello? Are you there? Hello? Hello?” She must not have gotten an answer, because eventually she hung up. She stuffed the phone inside a map that she shoved into the glove box. As she got out of the car, she looked around carefully. Paul felt like she was looking for him, but the night was too dark, and he was too well hidden. She disappeared into the house.

Paul headed to the Clearwater house and relayed what he had seen to Leah. She said it was evidence that Emily must be having an affair. Ever since she had given Emily’s name and Sam’s phone number to Brock, the man she met at the carnival, she suspected it. Emily had reacted far too suspiciously, and she had a history of cheating. She must have learned a lesson in secrecy after a previous boyfriend discovered her infidelity because of evidence she left on her phone.

They went to sleep amused by the delicious irony of the situation, but they didn’t sleep long. The sound of banging on the front door roused them at 3:30 AM. Who would come around at this time of night? It couldn’t be a vampire-related emergency. If that were the case, someone would be howling, wouldn’t they? As Paul helped Leah out of bed and down the stairs, they heard the person they were hoping for.

Jacob’s voice was so low that they couldn’t hear him as he spoke to Seth, who had let him in.

Paul interrupted, “Jake, thank god you’re back. We really have to talk about Sam.”

“Sam?” Jacob looked up. “Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s Emily we really need to talk about. But first, we have to get to the border in case the Cullens attack.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my lovely beta, Babs81410.


	27. Prodigal Son

Paul finally got a good look at Jacob. His hair was a mess, his hands, feet, and torso were muddy, and dried blood was caked to his shoulder and limbs. Remnants of fresh scars were visible, and ugly bruises dotted his skin. Paul gestured at his injuries. "Are those from Edward? Did you kill him?"

"No. He was right on my tail, though. Fucker is fast. That's why we need to be ready. Come on, we have to get to the border. I'll explain on the way."

Seth followed him out the door, saying, "Let's raise the alarm, then."

Jacob stopped so abruptly that Seth almost walked into him. "I don't want Sam involved if there's any way to avoid it. Somebody set me up out there, and he may have been in on it."

Leah hobbled after them, asking, "Set you up? What the hell happened?"

Jacob eyed her cast. "Leah, you're going to have to sit this one out. You know that, don't you?"

Paul picked her up off of the porch and a placed her onto the ground. She said, "You can't come back looking like that, say you were set up, run off, and expect me to just sit here! If you can't wait for me, I'll catch up, and then you can tell me what's going on!"

In exasperation, Jacob snapped, "Look, we don't have time for this! Edward was going to ambush me, okay? Along with the little psychic and her mate, the one with the scars. Emily sent them after me, I'm pretty sure."

"Emily?" Seth asked incredulously. "Our cousin Emily? Sam's imprint Emily?"

"Yeah, the only Emily we know! I killed the two of them, but Edward was right on my ass when I was on my way back here. So we have to be ready for them to attack, or at least him. I'm sorry, I have to go." He looked at Leah. "You're just going to get yourself killed if you come. Just stay here. Actually, you can help me. Can you get a hold of Quil and send him to meet us? I need to tell him what's going on too, and we may need his help. We're headed for that clearing at the eastern border, the one by the river."

"I know where you're talking about. I'll send him."

"Don't say anything to anybody until we know who was in on it, okay? And tell him to keep his mouth shut if he sees anybody else. He shouldn't phase, either. I can't talk to anybody as a wolf, plus I want to make sure Sam doesn't phase and hear what's going on." Jacob ran off into the woods, and Seth sprinted after him.

Paul turned to Leah. "Baby, I have to go. He's right. You have to stay here. It's not safe for you out there, okay? I'll figure out what's going on, and I'll let you know as soon as I can." He pressed a quick kiss to her lips, lifted her back onto the porch, and followed his brothers.

Jacob was already out of sight. He could hear him rushing ahead, but he could still see Seth. "Wait up," he hissed.

Seth slowed slightly, but Jacob did not. They heard him call, "Just meet me there. I'm going ahead to make sure Embry's okay and the Cullens haven't attacked. I'll explain everything when you get there. Don't phase, just hurry!"

"Damn it," Paul swore. "What the hell is going on?"

Seth almost tripped over a root in his haste. "Emily. I can't believe it. There's no way she wanted Jake to get hurt, let alone get killed."

Paul remembered the mysterious conversation he had witnessed just hours before. "Well, you never thought she'd steal your sister's fiancé either, did you?"

"No, but that's a pretty big jump, don't you think? Plus, he imprinted on her. It's not like she swept in and seduced him."

Paul pointed out, "She didn't wait to hop on his dick, either. How long after he imprinted did he dump Leah?"

"Uh, like, an hour or something."

"And when did she move in?"

"A month, maybe. Less."

"And did she tell Leah what she was doing? Try to soften the blow, or anything?"

"Well..."

Paul was firm. "She's a shitty person. She was then, and she is now."

"Yeah," Seth agreed, "but a murderer?"

"I thought she was talking to some boyfriend when I saw her sneak out to use the phone. But maybe it was one of the Cullens."

Seth's face fell. "I don't want to believe it."

"Doesn't matter if you want to or not. It won't make it less true."

They fell silent, each lost in their frustration, until they caught up with Jacob, who was asking Embry, "Any sign of them?"

"Not here, but they might just be avoiding me. I don't know if Edward can figure out where I am by reading my mind. I'm not sure what his range is, or how far away he is, for that matter. But now that you guys get here, we can spread out a bit and catch them between us."

Jacob was relieved that Embry was unharmed. "I sort of doubt that they're trying to get onto the Rez. They'll just want to hurt me specifically."

"Then we'll stick by you," Embry said. "Did you get a hold of Quil?"

"Leah's sending him. I'm kind of worried. If Edward isn't coming after me right now, where the hell is he, and what's he doing?"

"Dude, let's not complain about having a minute to think this through. How about Jared?" Embry asked. "If Quil gets here in time, it'll be five against five, but it would be nice to put the odds in our favor."

Jacob frowned and placed his hands on his hips. "No. He's too close to Sam. Not until we figure out who's on what side. I trust Quil, but..."

Embry interrupted, "What's wrong with Sam and Jared?" Jacob hadn't told him much before he ran off to find the rest of the pack.

"I don't know yet," Jacob answered, staring into the trees, worried that one of them would show up at any moment.

"Back up and start again. Tell us what happened,"Seth urged.

Jacob hesitated, trying to decide if he wanted to have this discussion in a location where Edward might be in range. But nothing he had to say was news to Edward, and he needed to stay until Quil found them. "Okay, the short version is that Emily set me up for a fall."

Embry immediately exclaimed, "What? What did you just say?”

"Let him talk!" Paul growled.

"Emily set me up," Jacob repeated. "She got Edward, Alice, and Jasper to try to kill me, but it didn't work, obviously."

"When?" Embry demanded. "Why?"

"I don't even know where to start, man," Jacob lamented.

"Just start at the beginning," Seth urged. “When you ran off.”

Jacob thought silently for a few seconds, arranging his thoughts. "Well, so you know I went after Edward after Bella called me over, right? I followed him. I could tell that Sam wasn't okay with it. He was just going to let him go since we didn’t have real proof. But I know he killed that man, and it wasn't an accident. He wasn't trying to help him. So I went. I decided I wasn't listening to Sam anymore, wasn't going to follow any of his orders, and then all of a sudden, I couldn't hear anybody in my head anymore. It was weird."

"You were just gone," Embry recalled. "It totally freaked me out. I thought you'd gotten hurt or knocked unconscious or something."

"Yeah, I'll bet. I wondered where you went, too. But Edward was fast, and I had to concentrate to keep up with him. I didn't understand what had happened, but I couldn't go back. I couldn't let him get away. So I tracked him for hours. He just kept going. That fucker is fast, and he doesn't have to sleep, usually goes days between feeding. I kept up with him, but I couldn't ever get close enough to actually catch him. After a while, I started to wonder what he was doing. He could have gotten away, you know, by stealing a car, or heading for an airport, or even just hopping in a taxi or on a bus. If he went into a city, I couldn't have followed him as a wolf. It would have been really easy for him to get away. But he didn't. He stayed in the woods, didn't go anywhere near civilization, and never looked for any kind of transportation. It didn't make any sense. And then he started heading south, and a little bit west, and it was almost like we were heading in a loop."

"Where was he going?" Seth asked. "Was he leading you somewhere in particular?"

"That's what I started to wonder," Jacob answered. "I actually stopped chasing him. At that point, I was pretty sure he wasn't going to disappear; his trail was way too obvious. So I hid. I needed it, anyway. I was exhausted. So I found a river, took a drink, and looked for a place to hole up for a little while. And it turns out I was right. He was trying to set up a trap for me."

Paul asked, "With Alice and Jasper?"

"Yeah. I didn't know for sure, but I just had this feeling I was being followed. I hid on this rocky hill. It was pretty high, high enough that I could see everything below me, with enough cover that it was really hard to see me." Jacob explained that he smelled traces of them on the wind before he spotted them. It was just after dusk. They came from the west. As they wove between the trees, he caught glimpses of their strange, pale skin. They moved quickly but carefully. He knew it the moment that they found his trail. The male stopped suddenly, standing in his very paw prints. Jasper knelt on the ground, picked up a handful of earth, and brought it to his nose. Alice sniffed at it as well, and they looked back and forth, trying to decide which way to go.

They chose correctly. They moved closer and closer until they were beneath him. He held still, breathing as quietly as possible. They seemed suspicious, as if they knew he was close. His trail here was wide and disjointed; he first passed by the hill before deciding to return. Then he had walked back and forth from the river, about a mile away, and had circled the hill several times looking for the best place to wait. Jasper whispered, "The trail splits. He walked around here a lot."

"Which way do we go?" Alice asked.

"I don't know. The smell is strong, though, and fresh. He was here a while. I'll bet he didn't get very far."

Alice scowled and pouted. She was surprised she didn't stamp her foot in frustration. "I hate this. I hate that I can't see them. I'm blind."

"Give Edward a call. If he's close enough, he'll be able to read his mind, tell us where he is. I'm going to look this way." He pointed toward the river to the south. "I'll bet he needed a drink at some point." Jasper lowered his voice, and he looked around suspiciously. "He might actually still be there. I know Edward wanted to kill him himself, but if we find him, we're just going to end this now."

It was all the confirmation Jacob needed. Edward had indeed led him out here for an ambush. He had looped southwest to draw Jacob closer to Alice and Jasper, who must have come from Forks. They meant to outnumber him, to overwhelm him. He wasn't going to let them.

"Agreed." As Jasper jogged off, Alice looked back along the path they had just walked, then forward, and finally, up the rocks. For a moment, he thought she had spotted him, but he was too well hidden. Her gaze passed right over him. She circled the base of the hill, and then she turned away and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Before she could dial, Jacob leapt. She heard him crash through the bush he had been crouching behind, and she twisted up to look at him. But it was too late. He had her skull in his jaws before she could start screaming. Her body fell to the ground with a heavy thud as he ripped off her head. The phone landed several feet away. Jasper heard the sound of her flesh as it tore, and he sprinted back, staring in shock at Jacob's enormous wolf. Jacob kept the head secured tightly in his mouth as he twisted back, and he jumped toward the foot of the hill. Jasper came after him, and Jacob scrambled up the rocks. Jasper was right on his heels. Jacob aimed for a precarious-looking pile of stones and kicked at them with his hind legs. They rained down in a shower on the screaming vampire, preventing him from grabbing Jacob's paw. Jacob reached the top of the hill and dropped the head to the ground just in time to feel Jasper's fingers in his fur. He slashed backward with his claw, dislodging his opponent, who slipped down the hill several yards. Jacob instantly phased back into his human body and scrambled for the lighter tied to his ankle. Just as Jasper hauled himself over the edge, Jacob held Alice's head aloft with his left hand, and with his right, he flicked the lighter.

"I told him to back off, or his wife was going up in flames."

"Jesus, Jake," Paul said. "No wonder they want to kill you."

"That's not the half of it," Jacob explained as Quil arrived. "Oh good, you're here."

Quil grabbed Jacob and pulled him in for a one-armed hug. "Damn, man. I'm glad you're okay. Leah just called me and told me the craziest shit. Is it true?"

"I know. C'mon," Jacob pointed east. "Let's head toward Bella's place. They've got no reason to go for the rez tonight, and if he's not here trying to take me out, I think maybe Edward will go after Bella." He updated Quil as they jogged at a brisk pace, and then he continued, "I made Jasper tell me everything. He didn't want to, but he knew I was serious about killing Alice. He still had a chance to put her back together. But if I lit her up, she was dead for good. I made him tell me what Edward had done. No surprise, I was right. Edward killed that guy, and it wasn't some kind of accident. Victoria was there too, but she found Edward, not the other way around."

"What the hell was he doing?" demanded Paul. “All of a sudden, he just decided he wanted a tastier snack?”

"Bella wants him to turn her into a vampire, right? Apparently he was worried that when he bit her, he wouldn’t be able to stop drinking before he drained her dry. He tasted her blood once before, remember? Apparently she's the tastiest thing he's ever had, and he really didn't think he would be able to do it again without killing her. He thought he needed to practice."

"He was just going to turn a bunch of humans to prove that he could?' Seth asked, alarmed.

Embry asked, "Are you sure Jasper told you the truth? That doesn’t make sense. Bella would notice when his eyes turned red. I mean, she did notice."

"Yeah, how it went down wasn't exactly planned. He didn't want to leave any witnesses, and he didn't want her to see him after. She wasn’t supposed to know anything. His original plan was to take a trip, away from us and away from Bella. He’d do it the next time she went to see her mom in Florida. He was going to bite people, make himself stop for the practice, and then go ahead and finish them off anyway so that none of them would be left to tell anyone what he had done. But that hiker was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Edward was hungry. Must have been fantasizing about human blood for a while. When he ran into that guy in the woods, he just couldn't resist. He bit him, couldn't stop or wouldn't stop, and Victoria found him."

The other wolves swore, and they vowed to tear apart Edward and the rest of the coven who tried to cover up his crime. Embry wanted to know, "How did Alice and Jasper get involved? Did they go after you to make sure you didn't kill Edward?"

"No," Jacob answered grimly. "They tried to play it off that way, though. After Jasper told me about Edward, he asked for her head back. He said they'd just go their way, and I could go mine. I don't know, I just didn't think I was getting the whole story. So I held the lighter real close again. He knew I was serious, that I was willing to kill her. I didn't believe for a second that they'd just let me walk away. They were there to kill me, and they were going to follow through. Not to mention, shit, they broke the treaty, and I knew it. One of them killed a human, and they tried to cover it up. That means war!"

Paul agreed enthusiastically. "You're right, man. The whole reason we exist is to protect people from them, and it hurts, it physically hurts, to just let them stroll around town, knowing one of them could snap at any moment and kill someone."

"Yes! It's not right! So he knew how I felt. I mean, he can't read minds, but he can sense emotions, right? I could feel him trying to calm me down, like he was trying to throw a wet blanket over me, but I was way too mad. I guess he probably took me down from furious to pissed. Which was actually helpful. The emotions didn't really cloud my mind. I just felt logical, and logic told me to kill them both. So I held the lighter real close. It singed her hair. That freaked him out. It was like using truth serum, or a polygraph or something. He told me to stop, that he had more information. He said we have a leak, a snitch, and if I let her live, he'd tell me everything. He asked for her head back. I told him that I wanted the information first. We argued for a while, but I stood my ground, and he didn't have much of a choice. He finally just spilled his guts. He said Emily's been feeding information to Victoria."

"Wait, what?" Seth asked, completely confused. "Victoria? Why? And how do the Cullens know?"

"Edward read her mind, that's how they knew. It was just chance, I guess. He ran into her in town. Sounds like it started off like blackmail, actually. You know that second leech trail we found while tracking Victoria? The same scent we kept finding by Bella’s place?"

"Yeah," Paul remembered. "That night Leah almost caught her, the time she escaped onto Cullen territory, there was another trail, a different vamp. We never figured out who it was."

"Turns out it was some guy named Riley," Jacob said. "The football player from Seattle that disappeared. It's been in the news."

"Charlie said something about the case," Seth remembered. "He's a vampire now?"

"And sort of a partner of Victoria's," Jacob continued. "I guess he met Emily at some point, wanted to eat her. She saved her own ass by offering up information about us."

"Oh," Seth sighed in relief. He didn't think particularly well of his cousin after she took up with Sam, but it was hard to imagine that she truly betrayed them. "That doesn't really sound like her fault, does it? It sounds like she got threatened into giving them information."

"Maybe that's how it started," Jacob admitted, "but it's gone way beyond that now. Plus, if she'd have told us that Riley threatened her, we'd have helped her. And after he let her go that first time, she didn't have to keep snitching. That's what Edward had her on. She was betraying us to Victoria, and then to the Cullens. And she sent Alice and Jasper after me, and no one made her do that. I think she figured I'd go after Edward for what he'd done, and when Sam told her I was hunting him down, she told them. It was her idea that they could ambush me, outnumber me, and take me out."

Paul held no love for Emily, but he didn't understand why she would have done such a thing. "I don't get it.  What for? What could she possibly have to gain?"

Jacob wasn't certain, but he had his suspicions. "I think it was a power-play. Jasper said it was about Sam. She wants him to stay Alpha. It kind of secures her position, you know?"

Seth was able to shed light on the situation. "Jake's right. The two of them are power-hungry in the worst way. Sam said something to Leah… Jake, you need to take him out. He's dangerous. You won't believe what he tried to do to my sister."

Jacob speculated, "I was wondering if they were in on it together. That's why I didn't want Sam to know I'm back."

Paul broke in, "Seth, what happened to Leah? She wouldn't tell me, and it's been killing me."

Seth was relieved to finally get it off his chest. It had been a real struggle to keep the information from the rest of the pack, even just for a little while. "He's been abusing his Alpha powers. Jake, he almost raped my sister, and then he used an Alpha order to make her forget."

The response was immediate and chaotic. Everyone spoke at the same time with expressions of incredulity and shock. But one voice rose above the others. Paul growled audibly and exploded into his wolf. He turned tail and started to run back to the reservation. _I'm going to kill him. I'm going to fucking tear him to pieces._

Seth and Jacob immediately phased and followed him. They couldn't hear Jacob in the pack mind, but Paul demanded, _What did he do, Seth? Tell me what he did!_

Seth listened for other voices, but they were thankfully alone. Sam and Jared were probably still asleep in their beds. _I'll tell you, but I think you need to slow down._

Jacob cut him off by jumping in front of him and blocking his path. He tried to go around, but Jacob leapt on his back and pinned him down. He tossed him off, but Jacob crashed into him again. In an attempt to get him to back off, Paul swiped his claw at Jacob, who dodged away, phased into his human body, and held his hands out. "Hold up, man. Let Seth tell everybody what happened. We all need to know, except... except... Hey, is anybody else there?" Seth shook his head, so Jacob continued, "Sam cannot know what what's going on until we figure out what to do. So phase back before he phases in and figures out everything. I get it, okay? You're pissed, and you're right. We all are. And we all want to hear Seth out. I can't hear anything he says when he's a wolf."

Paul held still, shaking, until he managed to calm himself enough to change back. "There's no explanation that's going to make it okay. Nothing anyone can say is going to let him get away with it."

Jacob insisted, "No one's suggesting he can just get away with it, but I just ran into a trap. Who knows what they've all been planning? I don't know if Sam and Emily were in it together or not, and a week ago if you had told me that Emily was capable of anything like this I would have laughed in your face. But we don't know what's going on. The Cullens tried to kill me, do you understand? What if this is part of some kind of plan? What if they're going to get us to fight each other and take each other out? I'm not telling you to let him get away with anything. But let's figure out what's going on, and if he really did something bad to Leah, I've got your back, okay?"

Seth broke in, "He absolutely did something to my sister, Jake. There's no question." He turned to Paul as they rejoined the group. "Believe me, I wanted to kill Sam the second I found out, too. But he’s still our Alpha. He can still order us to do anything he wants, including make all of us forget all of this. He has to be stripped of his status, and the only person who can do that is Jake."

Paul was furious, but he couldn't deny Seth's logic. "Then talk. Tell me what happened."

Seth hardly knew where to begin. His mind was swimming with the new information he had just gathered from Jacob, plus everything Rosalie had told them. "Well, we got this information from Rosalie Cullen, so take it for what it's worth. But I believe her, and once you hear the story, I think you'll believe it too. You know how Leah dumped Paul all of a sudden, and it seemed kind of out of the blue? Well, it was out of the blue, because it wasn't her idea. It was Sam's."

"I knew it!" Paul hissed.

Seth continued, "He took her onto Cullen land, and he told her some crazy scheme. He doesn't just want to be Alpha now, but, like, forever. Never stop phasing, never age, and basically keep my sister on the side as his mistress. He'd make Leah keep phasing with him, and he thought they could stay together."

"That's insane!" Quil exclaimed.

Embry asked, "Does Emily know this plan?"

Paul just swore and started to pace. It was harder and harder not to run back to Sam's cabin, yank him out of his bed, and make him bleed. Nothing Seth told him made him want to back off. He couldn't wait to rip into Sam. "I believe it. That motherfucker."

"Some of it fits," Jacob mused. "Emily likes the status she gets by being the Alpha's imprint. That's why she wants me out of the way. She wants her man to be in charge. Except for the bit about him outliving her and sleeping with Leah. There's no way that she thinks that's okay."

"I doubt she knows," Seth stated. "Sam is awfully good at hiding his thoughts from us, and we can read his mind. Unless he flat out told her, she wouldn't know he was still so hung up on my sister."

"I think he's not just good at keeping his thoughts private," Paul replied. "I think maybe it's another Alpha power."

Embry agreed. "He seems to be able to let us know only what he wants us to know, and nothing extra. No one else can do that except Jake."

Jacob wanted to know, "Is that all, Seth? Or is there more? You said he tried to rape her?"

Seth continued, "Yeah. He made her break it off with Paul, and he wanted to, you know, be with my sister. He ordered her to be quiet and not fight back while he touched her. Rosalie overheard a lot of it. She just happened to be passing by. She didn't know about Alpha orders, so she just thought Leah was okay with what was happening."

Paul's imagination ran wild. "God damn it! I'm going to kill him as slowly and painfully as possible. Nothing any of you do is going to stop me. I'm going to tear that asshole apart, and maybe his precious imprint first, right in front of him, for good measure. Hell, it sounds like she deserves it."

Seth told him, "Well, thank God Jared came along before Sam could really do a whole lot. Sam just played it off like they were just talking, like nothing had really happened, and after Jared left he ordered Leah to forget everything so he wouldn't get caught. It worked…"

"I knew it!" Paul insisted. "There were holes in her memory, and I knew it! I just didn't know what had happened, or how to find out!"

"I think it probably would have worked if it weren't for Rosalie," Seth said. "She told us everything. Sam said he'd keep Leah on the side until Emily died, and then they'd be together, like, forever. And he was going to sleep with her right then, except Jared interrupted them."

Jacob interrupted, "Wait, why should we believe her? They're the ones who are trying to kill me! And is Jared in on it too?"

Seth explained, "No, sounds like Jared didn't know what was going on. And we don't just have to take her word for it. When she told us what happened, Leah's memories came back. It happened just like Rosalie said. She remembered everything. But if it weren't for Rosalie..."

Embry speculated, "Leah might even have thought it was her own idea to get back together with Sam."

"Yeah, sound’s like that’s what Sam was going for," Seth agreed.

Quil frowned. "That is so fucked up."

"Okay." Jacob was still skeptical about Rosalie. "So she told the truth. But why? Why didn't she do something about it the first time around, or just keep her mouth shut? I mean, it looks like the coven is working with Sam and Emily, or at least Emily."

Paul retorted, "For that matter, why do you believe Alice and Jasper? It sounds like he would have told you just about anything to get Alice's head back. You seem pretty convinced he was telling the truth."

"Oh, I wasn't sure at all. Not while he was talking to me. I thought he was fucking with me, trying to split us up, make us not trust each other."

Seth reminded him, "You never finished telling us what happened. You had her head, and he basically spilled the beans, and then?"

"Right," Jacob continued. "So when Emily heard I'd gone after Edward, she called them. They decided it would be a good time to take me out, but they didn't know if Edward could kill me on his own. So she sent the two of them after me. I'd get trapped between Jasper and Alice on one side, and Edward on the other, and they could kill me, then claim that they hadn't broken the treaty because I attacked Edward, and they just defended themselves. They were going to stick to their story about Edward trying to save the hiker, and they'd make me look like the bad guy for attacking them. Then no one would stand in their way when they finally turned Bella… And Sam could stay Alpha, apparently for good, I guess?"

"Wait." Embry was still confused. "But who was it, Riley? He blackmailed Emily? And the Cullens found out because..."

"Riley threatened her, and she caved. Edward read her mind and saw what she was up to, not just that she was giving up information about us, but some personal stuff too." Jacob clarified.

Quil asked, “Personal stuff?”

“Something about an old boyfriend. She’s cheating on Sam with him, or maybe actually cheating on him with Sam, I guess. I dunno. I don’t care. I guess that's actually what she was thinking about when Edward noticed her the first time. He thought it was kind of juicy, so he dug around in her brain, and that's when he realized she was talking to Victoria and Riley. Oh, man," Jacob sighed. "Remember all those times Sam noticed she was gone while he was on patrol? I just figured she probably needed some space or something."

Paul said, "Leah thought she was having an affair. I guess she's done it before, more than once."

"But she's an imprint," Embry said incredulously. "She's his soulmate, right? His perfect match."

Paul scoffed. "That's obviously a load of bullshit. She's a backstabbing slut who’s willing to sleep with her best friend's man. And we knew that before all this stuff about Victoria and the Cullens. She's a traitor. Although maybe that does make her perfect for Sam. Apparently he is so high on being Alpha that he never wants to give it up, ever."

Seth speculated, "I kind of wonder if she turned him into this. I mean, I knew him since forever. He didn't used to be like this. He loved my sister, he really did. Now he’s like Sam's evil twin or something."

Paul reluctantly agreed. "I've thought the same thing. I never knew him as well, but back when the pack was smaller, just me and him and Jared, he wasn't like this. He changed, and it happened all of a sudden."

Embry thought about it. "The day he imprinted, huh? God, I hope that never happens to me. But whatever. Who cares about their love life? So Edward used that against her, to get her to give the him information about us too?”

“Yeah. So she gave Victoria information about us, which is why she was able to stay just on the other side of the border, like she knew exactly how far we were allowed to go, because she did! Because Emily told her! And she knew exactly how many of us would patrol at a time, and when, and everything. That’s why we couldn’t catch her! Because Emily fed her all the information! And Edward didn’t even have to ask. All he had to do was pick around in her brain. But she did worse than that. I mean, having the guy read her mind wouldn’t have been her fault. But he said he’d tell Sam about her affair, and he’d tell us about her leaking stuff to Victoria, and she agreed to feed them more information and help them out. Like sending Jasper and Alice after me? That was her idea, according to Jasper. She didn’t need to do that. Edward was already miles away. It didn’t save her ass, she was just trying to get rid of me.”

Quil asked, “So she’s, like, a triple agent?”

“Basically.”

“And what finally happened with Jasper and Alice?" Embry wanted to know.

"Well, eventually it seemed like I got everything out of him that he had to say. He swore there was nothing left to tell, and he asked for her head back again. I just lit her on fire."

Paul patted him on the back. "Fuck, yeah! Oh my god, that's awesome."

Jacob shrugged. "Well, I didn't believe him for a second when he said we'd just go our separate ways. They came out there to kill me! That was the whole point of us being out there. There was no way he was just going to let me leave, and by then, I was pretty sure Edward was on his way back. If I didn't take them out, soon I'd have three pissed of vamps surrounding me. So I burned her head."

"Crap, what did he do?" Quil asked.

"What do you think he did? He jumped me. I phased, and honestly, it wasn't that hard to kill him too. He cut me up pretty bad." He gestured at the dried blood and bruises that were still visible on his body. "And he dislocated my shoulder. I had to pop it back in after. I thought he broke my arm, too, but maybe not." He raised his arm and lowered it, testing its range of motion. "I dunno. We fought, but all I had to do was get in a few decent cuts. Their venom goes up like gasoline. Once I'd broken his skin, I shoved him at Alice's head, which was still burning. He went up like a matchstick."

"Wow. That is totally badass, Jake," Quil chuckled, in awe of his cousin.  Jacob just shrugged. "You just killed two monsters!"

"And if what Rosalie says is true," Seth agreed, "those two murdered lots of people, especially before they joined the rest of the Cullens. Seriously, Jake, you did a really good thing."

"Thanks," Jacob said, slightly embarrassed. "So once they were both taken care of, I grabbed Alice's phone and took it with me. I thought about taking on Edward, because I was pretty sure he was going to be there any minute. Jasper kind of looked around, I think for him, before I killed him. But I was hurt, and he was fresh, plus I still hadn't had anything to eat and was running on no sleep. Still am, actually. Maybe Bella will have some food... But I really needed backup, so I came here. I barely stayed ahead of him, to be honest. He was gaining on me. Anyway, when I was maybe half way back, Alice's phone rang. Caller ID said it was Emily, and honestly, I wouldn't have necessarily believed it was the same Emily until I heard her voice. It was definitely her. I didn't say anything, but I heard her.”

"Shit," Embry sore. "I still can’t believe it. She betrayed you. She betrayed all of us. And probably Sam did, too."

Paul disagreed, surprising himself. "Actually, I don't think he knows. I was over by the cabin, and I saw her. I heard that call. She totally snuck out while Sam was asleep and used this fancy phone I’d never seen before."

"Like a burner phone?" Quil asked.

"Yeah. It looked really expensive, not like anything they could afford. And she kept it in her car. She was obviously hiding it from Sam. I heard her say that she could talk when he would be gone. I thought she was having an affair, maybe, which I guess she is. It never occurred to me that she would be doing anything like this."

They looked at each other uneasily as they continued toward Bella's house. Quil asked, "Okay, but either way, we can’t trust either of them. What do we do now?"

Paul told Jacob, "You have to take Sam out. I talked to your dad about it. The Alpha position can only be transferred by beating the standing Alpha in combat. You have to fight him, and you have to win."

Jacob said, "I'm surprised you don't want to do the honors yourself." He looked at Seth. "Hell, I can't believe you haven't tried to do anything since you found out what he tried to do to your sister."

"Trust me, it’s been pretty hard to hold back."

Paul explained, "Your dad was pretty clear. Alphas are really hard to defeat because they can still use their Alpha orders during a fight. All they have to do is tell you to stop, and you have to stop. That's what happened to me when I went after him before. Now, I guess if an Alpha chooses not to use the power, to level the playing field, if they only want to win fair and square, they can choose to do that. But we all know Sam. He'll fight as dirty as he can in order to win. The only person who can defy his alpha order is you, Jake. It's in your genes. You're supposed to be the Alpha, not him."

Embry added, "Which is probably why you were able to break off on your own, but no one else can do that. Yeah. Jake, you need to beat him. But what about Emily? It's not like we can have her arrested for this. We can tell her not to say anything to anyone, but there's really nothing stopping her from running to the Cullens, or Riley for that matter. And what about Jared?"

Jacob sighed. "He's loyal to Sam. He will be a problem. But his only real priority is Kim. If he thinks she's in danger because of the leeches, he'll do whatever he thinks he needs to do to keep her safe."

"And what if Sam convinces him that he needs to side with the leeches in order to stay safe?" Paul asked. "She's really close with Emily. She'd probably fall for any stupid thing Emily told her."

Jacob suggested, "Then we get to her before Emily does. We tell her our side of the story, get her on our side, and have her tell Jared. He'll do whatever she tells him to."

"Should we split up, then?" asked Quil. "One of us can go talk to Kim before she hears something from someone else?"

"But what about Edward?" Embry said. "He seems to be the more immediate danger."

"I'm afraid that when we get to Bella's he'll be there, and maybe the rest of them too. He wants her badly enough; he could try to turn her tonight, or take her and run."

Seth suggested, "I kind of doubt that all of the Cullens would support him. Rosalie has been helping out Leah a lot, and they've been talking. She said a bunch of things that I don't think they want us to know."

"Like what?" Jacob asked. "And how do we know that she's telling the truth?"

Seth shrugged. "I guess I can't say for sure. But she basically said that if she found out that any of the others filled humans, she would kill them. She swears she’s never had a drop of human blood, and she’s the only one who hasn’t. She’s trying to protect humans from her family. That’s why she stays with them. Apparently, she doesn't want to keep going to high school, but the others do, and she goes with them to make sure that everyone in the school stays safe from them."

Embry asked, "How do we know any of that is true? Maybe she's just saying something we like to hear in order to get in with us. I mean, if we can't trust an imprint, or our own Alpha, why would we trust a vampire?"

Seth admitted his uncertainty, but after telling his brothers about how Rosalie was transformed against her will to be a prize for Edward, after being gang raped and beaten, no less, they were more sympathetic. After he finished repeating her story, Paul wondered, "How is it that she hasn't killed them all already?"

"Depending on how this all goes down, she might just have to if she wants to live. We’re done making deals with the devil,” Jacob declared.

"Bella's going to be pissed, man. She's totally blind, can't see what they really are," Embry noted.

"Fuck what Bella thinks," Paul growled. "We'll be doing her a favor, and if she's too stupid to see that, that's her problem, not ours."

Jacob said, "I honestly don't care if she's mad at me or not. All I care about is that we take out any vamp who's a threat to humans, and then we deal with Sam and Emily. Bella can be as angry as she wants, so long as she does it while she's human and alive."

"And if we're too late, Jake?" Seth asked.

Jacob paused for a long time, not wanting to give an answer. Paul reminded him, "If she chose to become one of them, whether or not Edward manipulated her into it, that's on her. Vampires are dangerous, period, whether they try not to eat humans or not. Edward just showed us how deadly they are. If we let a new vampire loose, and she kills someone, that's on us as much as it's on the Cullens for turning her. We can't risk it."

"You're right," Jacob admitted reluctantly. "If we're too late, we have to take her out."

"We'll help you, Jake," Embry offered. "You don't have to do it yourself. One of us can do the dirty work."

"No," Jacob insisted. "If it needs to be done, I'll do it."

Quil asked, "Are you sure?"

Jacob held up his hand, signaling for them to stop. "Shh..." They listened carefully. An angry, terrified human voice sounded faintly through the trees. A foul, dead stench carried on the breeze. "That's them," Jacob whispered before he exploded into this wolf and took off.

Paul phased and sprinted after him, followed by their brothers. He hoped the Cullens were still there and that they gave him an excuse to fight, because he really wanted to kill something.

X-x-x-x-X

 


	28. Loyalty

Leah hobbled back into the house only to find her mother standing at the foot of the stairs clutching a pair of crutches. Sue’s mouth was agape, and her voice was high and hard. “Did I just hear something about Emily? And the Cullens?”

“Well,” Leah hedged, “it’s crazy, isn’t it?” She contemplated lying. Jacob had warned her not to say anything to anyone except Quil.

But it seemed as if Sue had heard it all anyway. She handed her the crutches and said, “Just… It’s unbelievable. It’s absurd. What is wrong with everyone?”

“I don’t know, Mom. I don’t know.” Leah headed for the kitchen. Sue beat her there and pulled the phone from the wall and started to dial. “Um, what are you doing? Did you hear Jacob tell me not to say anything to anyone? We don't know who we can trust."

Sue shushed her and sent her a stern look. She whispered, “I’m helping. I… Oh, hello!” Her tone shifted into a falsely bright cadence. “It’s Sue. I’m so sorry to bother you at this ridiculous hour! I’m looking for your grandson. Is he there? Young Embry just a had a little run-in with an old hunter’s trap, and we were looking for someone to take the rest of his patrol.” She paused and listened briefly. “He’ll be okay. They heal fast, you know? I don’t think anything’s broken. I just had to bandage him up. Hopefully he’ll be as good as new tomorrow... Yes… Sure, I can wait.”

Leah was impressed. She had certainly thought to call Quil in order to save time; her other alternative was to go find him, but that would have taken longer. It hadn’t even occurred to her that his mother or grandfather might have answered the phone. There was no way she could have lied so smoothly. Sue handed her the phone, and soon the younger Quil was on the line. She quickly explained the little she knew and sent him on his way, being careful to emphasize that he avoid phasing. When she hung up the phone, she and Sue debated what to do next. “I can’t believe this is happening, and I’m sitting here doing nothing!”

“Welcome to my world,” Sue said dryly. “You think this is bad? Wait until you have children. I just pray that they never have to put their lives on the line for anything. Every time you or your brother leaves the house, I wonder if you’re coming back again. I’d so much rather fight your battles for you, literally, but it simply isn’t possible.”

“I’m sorry, Mom.” Leah had been so wrapped up in her own problems that she’d neglected to consider what her mother was going through. They had both lost Harry, and their lives had both been overturned.

Sue shrugged. “Don’t apologize, sweetheart. It’s not your fault. Besides, you’re not doing nothing, dear. You’re helping. You did exactly what Jacob asked you to, and as soon as you figure out what to do next, you’ll do that too.”

“Which is what? What should I do now? I feel so helpless, and I hate it!”

“Go back to bed would be the sensible answer, but we both know we’re not getting any sleep tonight.” Sue pulled a seat away from the table so that Leah could sit, and then she retrieved two glasses and a bottle of wine.

“Did I ever tell you that you’re the smartest person I know, Mom?” Leah asked as Sue poured.

Sue just smirked. “You’re the smartest person you know, sweetheart. And Seth, too, but in a different way than you. How much of this do you think I can have and still go to work in three and a half hours?” She poured a single serving and handed the bottle to her daughter. “With your fancy new metabolism, would you even feel it if you drank the entire rest of this right now?”

Leah smiled and shrugged. “I’d probably feel a little buzzed.”

“Then should I get you a second bottle?” Sue joked. Then she sighed, “Well, at least Jacob got rid of two of those things. Just five left to go.”

“Maybe four,” Leah clarified. She drained her glass in one long draw. “I know I’ve only known her for a couple days, but I think Rose might be on our side if it came down to it.”

“I hope you’re right. And by the sounds of it, you might find out really soon.” Sue poured her another glass.

Leah frowned and stared into the dark liquid. “I really think I ought to go out there. I know I’m hurt, but an injured werewolf is still more useful against vampires than a healthy human.”

“I know how you feel, and in a way you’re right. But just think about it. If you join a fight in your condition, Paul and your brother would spend more time looking after you than looking after themselves. You’d never forgive yourself if one of them got hurt trying to protect you.”

“But I’ll never forgive myself if one of them gets hurt, and I was just sitting here drinking wine…” The phone started to ring, cutting her off.

Sue jumped up to get it. She stared at the Caller ID. “It says it’s the Cullens.”

Leah yanked it out of her hand, nearly knocking over her glass. Sue grabbed it before it tipped over. “Hello?”

It was Rosalie. "Leah? Are you okay? Is everyone in the pack okay?"

"I was hoping you could tell me! Jacob just took off after saying the craziest..."

Rosalie hissed, "I know. Edward came back ranting that Jacob murdered Alice and Jasper!"

"And you believe that liar? Jacob said they ambushed him."

Rosalie paused, absorbing the information. "So it's true?" she asked quietly.

"That he murdered them? They don't call it murder when it's self-defense!" Leah insisted.

"Yeah, you're... yeah. I was just hoping he was trying to get us all riled up, that's all. I hoped he was lying. It didn't occur to me that they'd all gone after Jacob. I mean, like I told you, I hadn't seen them around, but I didn't think... God. I should have known."

Leah interrupted, "Wait, where are you?"

"In my car," Rosalie explained. "He can't hear me, not with his ears anyway. But I'm close enough that he can probably hear my thoughts. So I'm not sure how much you should tell me. I wanted to warn you, though."

"Where is he? Where are you going?"

Rosalie revved the engine and said, "I'm heading to Bella's house. I'm not sure, but I think he might be going over there."

Leah didn't wait. She just stood and grabbed one crutch to lean on, grabbed the keys off their hook on the wall, and started to make her way out the door. "I'm guessing it's not to break up with her, is it?"

"I'm afraid he's going to try to turn her tonight. I'm trying to beat him there. My car's faster than he is on foot, but he can run straight through the woods. I've got to stick to these stupid, windy roads." A screech of tires emphasized her point.

While Rosalie spoke, Sue tried to stop Leah. "What are you doing? Stop! You can't help them like this!"

Leah ignored her mother and hopped down the porch stairs. She had no idea where the pack had gone. For all she knew, they were gathered by the border waiting for Edward's attack. If she thought it would do any good, she would phase to communicate with them, broken leg be damned, but Jacob had told everyone to remain in their human bodies. She would protect Bella Swan herself. "Did he say what he was going to do?"

"No, but where else would he go?"

"Good point. What happened, exactly?" As Leah climbed into the car, Sue tried to pull her back. But Leah could not be stopped. Sue finally changed tactics and climbed into the passenger side. Leah gaped at her. Her mother had the spirit of a wolf, but the body of a human. If she came, she would only get herself killed. She tilted the phone away from her mouth. "What are you doing? I'm going to get Jared."

"Oh! I thought you were on your way to do something stupid."

She was, but she certainly wasn't going to admit it to her mother. "I'm not that dumb."

"I'll come with you."

"It's a waste of time, having both of us there. You should tell Billy what's going on while I get Jared."

"Do you trust Jared?"

She lied again. "Of course. Besides, do I have a choice? I'm not getting Sam, and the rest of the pack is already out there. Someone needs to watch over Bella Swan, and there isn't anyone else."

Sue agreed and got out of the car. Leah listened to Rosalie as she pulled out of the driveway, grateful that she only needed one foot to drive. She was terribly clumsy because of the cast on her leg, but she would make it work. Rosalie asked, "Is your mother gone?" She didn't wait for an answer. "It was insane, Leah. He burst into the house screaming that Jacob had murdered Alice and Jasper. He said they were just trying to protect him from Jacob's attack. He said that Jacob had gone crazy, that he was innocent and had done nothing wrong, and that Jacob was just using the hiker as an excuse to kill him. He said Jacob was jealous of his relationship with Bella, and that was why Jacob tried to kill him, and that Alice and Jasper died protecting him. He tried to convince us all to head for you, for the reservation, to get revenge."

"My God. Are they on their way here? Do I need to tell the pack?"

"No, well, I don't think he's going for the whole pack. I mean, Jacob beat him back here, so he wouldn't have to take on just one of you, but a bunch, right? He couldn't do that by himself. He tried to get us all to come with him for an all-out assault. It almost worked, too. Esme's heartbroken, for one thing. Just absolutely devastated. But furious, too. I've never seen her like this, never. The grief, it just took over her completely, and after hearing Edward's story, she was ready to go with him. And so was Emmett. If I didn't know better, I'd have agreed."

"What about Carlisle?" Leah asked as she sped toward Forks.

Rosalie sighed. "He was crushed, just crushed. I mean, he didn't turn either Jasper or Alice, but he loves them... loved them, I guess, like his own kids. That's how he feels about all of us. But he genuinely hates killing anything. He's naive, but he has no blood lust. He sort of hesitated. That's when Edward realized what I was thinking about."

"Uh oh."

"Yeah. He knew I wasn't going to let him attack all of you, let alone help him do it. He tried to argue with me for a while, but there was nothing he could say that would make me change my mind. I said he had broken the treaty, just like you said. I reminded him that he admitted as much when he claimed that he tried to suck the venom out of that man. He had bitten him, good cause or otherwise. And even if it was an accident, he obviously didn't stop in time, so by the rules of the treaty, Jacob had the right to attack."

Leah was worried about what might have happened to Rosalie, but she was obviously fine. "What happened?"

"Everyone was pissed at me. We all argued, obviously, and by the end of it, I'm pretty sure Edward wanted to kill me as much as he wanted to kill Jacob. Emmett kept him away from me, although, to be honest, I'm pretty sure Emmett thought he was right. He just didn't want to see me hurt. Then Edward ran off..."

"To Bella's?"

"I think so. He doesn't have anything else to lose. I think he'll either try to take her and run, or maybe even turn her tonight."

Leah hoped she was wrong. "Did he say something?"

"No, but I know him. He's obsessed with her. He's either going to go for her, or he'll attack Jacob. Jacob can defend himself, plus I assume he's got several other wolves with him by now, but Bella has no defense. Look, I'm almost there. I'm going to put the phone down."

Leah almost told her that she was on her way, but then she realized that Edward may hear her. She would lose the element of surprise. All she said was, "Good luck."

The next ten minutes felt like ten hours. She had to hold her body in a strange position in order to drive, her broken leg uncomfortably wedged next to the brake. She half expected to see the reflection of her mother's headlights in her rear view mirror, but she was alone on the road. She gripped the steering wheel tightly in her fists, wondering if she would be able to fight when she inevitably had to phase and re-break her leg. The pain hardly concerned her, but if she couldn't stand, how would she defend anyone?

When she finally arrived in Bella's neighborhood, she rolled down her windows. Edward was already here. She could smell him. Thankfully, Rosalie was as well, and there was no trace of blood in the air. She pressed on the gas, careening dangerously around a corner, swerving into the driveway next to Rosalie’s BMW and slamming on the brakes. She didn't bother closing the door to her car. She grabbed her crutch, stumbled around the house, and made her way into the woods. Only a few yards in, she found Charlie Swan standing in a small clearing, his right hand extended in front of him, his pistol pointed directly at Edward. He held his daughter behind him with his other hand. "Get back, Bella," Charlie ordered.

But his daughter wouldn't listen to him. She clutched at his arm, trying to drag it down. "Don't, Dad! You don't understand!"

"Get back in the house!"

"I won't!" Bella cried. "You don't understand!"

"Then explain it to me!" he demanded. "You've been lying to me, over and over. Both of you have. If you don't want me to shoot him, give me a good reason!"

"I love him!" Bella wailed.

Rosalie stood slightly off to the side, holding her hands out in a placating gesture. "The gun won't work, Chief Swan. You can't hurt him that way, but the bullet could ricochet off him and hit something or someone else. Just put down the gun. I promise, I won't let him hurt your daughter."

"Shut up, Rosalie! You're not helping at all! Edward would never hurt me," Bella insisted. "He would never hurt anyone!"

"Then why are his eyes red?" Leah asked, placing herself directly in front of Edward.

His pupils dilated, and he bared his fangs. He hissed so low that neither Bella nor Charlie heard him say, "Get out of my way, you mongrel bitch."

Charlie swore. "Leah? What the hell are you doing? Get out of here! It's not safe! Take Bella and go!"

If Leah was healthy, she would have picked Bella up and carried her away. But she wouldn't get far in her cast. "We won't let you hurt her," Leah told Edward firmly. "We won't let you hurt either of them. You've done enough damage, Edward. Just go before the rest of the pack shows up and tears you apart."

"No!" Bella cried. She broke away from her father's grasp and tried to run to Edward.

Leah grabbed her arm as she passed, holding her still. "Bella, you're going to get yourself killed!"

"He won't hurt me! He won't do anything I haven't begged him for a thousand times!" Bella insisted.

Charlie's voice rose in alarm as he pulled Bella back. "What the hell are you talking about? What are you saying?"

"She wants to become one of us," Rosalie explained. "He's given her this romanticized, idealized, and completely fictional picture of what it is to be a vampire. He tricked her into thinking that being one of us just means power, glamour, wealth, and eternal life." As she spoke, Leah wondered what exactly had happened before she arrived. Charlie obviously knew what they were. Did he know about the wolves as well?

Edward seemed offended. "I have not! I have told her only the truth!"

"Did you tell her you murdered that man?" Leah challenged.

"I did not kill him!" Edward insisted. "I was only trying to help him!"

"Then why is he dead?" Rosalie asked. "Why hasn't he joined our family? If you were trying to help him, why isn't he one of us?"

Charlie was bewildered. "What are you talking about? Who died?"

"No one," Bella claimed.

At the same moment, Leah said, "The hiker whose body was found in the woods? Edward killed him."

"I was trying to help him!" he yelled.

"You failed!" Leah yelled.

Rosalie stalked toward him, pointing her finger accusingly in his face. "You're lying. I can see it on your face! You remember, Edward. I know you. I know who you really are. You can fool Bella, but you can't fool me."

Edward slapped her hand away, stuttering, "You--You don't know what you're talking about! I did nothing wrong! I was trying to save his life!"

"It was you?" Charlie asked incredulously. "You did that?"

"Look into his eyes," Leah instructed.

Charlie had awoken to the sound of his daughter's distressed whispers. When he heard a male voice shushing her as she tripped down the stairs, he pulled his gun and flashlight out of his drawer, and he followed them outside. Now he pulled the flashlight from the pocket of his robe and pointed it at Edward's face. The vampire shielded his eyes with his hands, but not before Charlie got a glimpse of his eyes. "What... what is that? Why are your eyes red?"

"That's the blood of the man he killed," Leah said somberly.

"Jesus," Charlie muttered. He raised his gun again. "Put your hands on your head," he told Edward. Edward didn't move. "Put your hands on your head, and turn around slowly. I want you on your knees. Bella, get my..." He had second thoughts. "Leah, get my handcuffs. They're on the table by the front door."

Bella was on the verge of tears. "Stop! Just stop!"

Leah shook her head. "Handcuffs won't do any good. He can break through them."

"What? You're not making any sense."

"We're strong," Rosalie said. "Too strong. I'd prove it to you, but we don't have time for this, Chief Swan. This isn't a police matter. Humans can do nothing when faced by our kind."

"That can't be true," Charlie insisted. "There has to be justice for that man who died. For anyone... Who else have you hurt?"

"No one!" Bella cried. "He hasn't hurt anyone!"

"No one," Edward said softly. "I've hurt no one, and I will not hurt your daughter. Don't listen to my sister. She's terribly jealous, because I fell in love with Bella, and I have never felt anything for her. She's convinced Leah that I'm a monster, but I'm not."

Rosalie snarled, "That's a lie. You've murdered dozens. Hundreds, for all I know. You can lie to them, brother, but not to me."

"Lies! All lies! You can't believe her, my love." Edward spoke directly to Bella. "I have only done the kind of work your own father does. I have only ever hunted criminals, murderers and rapists, those who could not be brought to justice by the police."

"Was the hiker a criminal?" Leah reminded them. "He wasn't. He was just a man. He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and you made him into a meal."

Charlie gaped at them both before shaking his head. "You're under arrest, Edward. Hands on your head, turn around, and get on your knees."

"Leave him alone!" Bella shrieked. "None of you understand! He'd never hurt anybody!"

"Then why did he try to kill Jacob?" Leah challenged.

Bella's jaw dropped. "He wouldn't. He wouldn't do that."

"I never touched him!" Edward maintained. "He was chasing me, not the other way around. Bella saw it herself!"

"Open your eyes, you idiot!" Leah said to Bella. "Your boyfriend lured him out there and tried to ambush him!"

Bella looked to Edward. "Is that true?"

"Of course not! You saw him. He went crazy! He came after me!"

Bella latched on to his protestations blindly. "You see? He's a good person, not a murderer. But even if he was, I forgive him! He's everything to me!"

Rosalie was losing patience with Bella. In a low, cold voice, she reminded her, "His crimes aren't yours to forgive."

Bella wouldn't listen to reason. "You just don't understand! None of you understand!" She threw herself at Edward, trying to shield him with her body, despite the fact that no one was actually threatening him except Charlie, who wielded only a useless weapon. Edward twisted around and crouched, pulling her onto his back. He was going to run.

Rosalie moved to block their escape, but Edward bolted aside and clipped her with his shoulder, sending her to the ground. As she fell, she grabbed his leg to stop him. He kicked her in the face, and Leah knew she couldn't wait any longer. She heard the pack approaching in the distance, but if Edward was as fast as everyone claimed, they wouldn't be fast enough. "Don't shoot me, Charlie," she yelled, and she phased. Her clothes fell to the ground in shreds, her cast splintered, and her newly-set bone re-fractured. The lancing pain caused her to stumble, but she righted herself on her three good legs.

Her brothers shouted in her brain. _Leah? What the hell are you doing?_ Paul demanded. _You're supposed to be home! Get out of there!_

Quil encouraged her. _Kill him, Leah! Take him out!_

_How did you beat us there? What about your leg?_ Seth asked. _Are you even able to walk?_

She ignored them all, tucked her injured leg to her belly, and awkwardly ran at Edward on three legs. Were it not for her new ally, her efforts would have been in vain, but Rosalie had grabbed onto one of Edward's ankles, and he couldn't run. When he saw Leah approaching, he let go of Bella with one arm, keeping her secure on his back with the other, and punched at Rosalie's temple so hard that a hairline crack formed in her stony skull, forcing her to release him, and he took off.

But Leah had positioned herself in his only route of escape. Edward couldn't run into the street to the south or the east for fear of being spotted, and he, too, knew the pack was approaching from the west. So he darted north, where Leah met him head-on. He knew exactly what she was thinking, so he twisted to the side as she lunged at him, and her teeth clamped down on air instead of his shoulder. He kicked at her broken leg, and she fell down in pain. She heard Paul shouting her name, but she didn't listen. Edward struck another blow at her flank. The extra second he took to hurt her cost him. It kept him close enough that she could swipe at him with her claw, and she tore a wound into the forearm he was using to support Bella on his back. The girl shrieked as he lost his grip, and she went tumbling down, landing on Leah. Charlie shouted and ran toward them, but Rosalie held him back. She knew he would only get hurt if he reached Edward.

As Edward turned and reached for her, Leah saw his pupils dilate, and his eyes locked on Bella. He sniffed the air, and Leah was horrified to realize that he had scented blood. Bella had scraped her hands when she fell, and she was trapped between them. Edward bared his fangs and dove, yanking at her wrist and drawing her hand to his mouth.

Leah kicked him back with her good leg. He was so overcome by his blood lust that he didn't block her before she made contact, but she succeeded in angering him. She knew she couldn't fight him this way, not with one leg broken and a bleeding human between them, so she wrapped her forelegs around the girl and rolled Bella beneath her, and shielded her with her body.

_Get out of there!_ Paul yelled. _Fuck Bella. It's her own damn fault he's after her. Don't let him hurt you!_

But Leah had already made her decision. She would protect the girl from her own poor decisions. Edward was on them in an instant, clawing at her fur and pulling at her limbs, trying to regain his prize. Bella was crying in fear, and Charlie was pointing his gun at them, trying to figure out if he should shoot Edward or the vicious-looking wolf that had appeared in Leah's place. Nearby, the pack howled as they ran.

Rosalie grabbed the barrel of the gun and forced Charlie to lower it. She yelled, "Don't shoot the wolf! That's Leah! She's protecting Bella! Let them go, Edward! Run while you still have a chance!"

Edward just snarled incoherently at Rosalie. The sound was inhuman, unlike that of any earthly animal. He was done pretending that any traces of humanity were left in him. He tried to bite Leah's flesh, but her thick pelt protected her. When he realized he couldn't penetrate her fur, he pummeled at Leah's already-broken leg, and she lost her balance. Bella's left leg slipped out, and Edward fell onto it. Before he could break the skin, Leah reached back with her claw and swiped at his face. He retaliated by jumping onto her back. He gripped her skull in both hands as she reared back, trying to throw him off before he snapped her neck. But he gripped her with both legs so tightly that she could hardly breathe. She thought her ribs would snap at any moment. Knowing that Edward could hear their thoughts, the pack screamed at him to let Leah go. She thrashed her head back and forth, and he lost his grip. As she fell back above Bella, he wrapped his arm around her throat and began to choke her. She clawed at his arm, but he would not let go. The pressure on her neck was immense.

Edward dragged her backward over the stony ground, saying, "Back off! I'm walking away safely, or Leah dies!"

Through she sound of her blood rushing through her ears, she heard Rosalie yell, "Let her go! Just let her go, Edward. It's over!"

Charlie's police training kicked in, and he rushed over to drag his daughter away while she wept. He peered into the woods and saw five more wolves assembling. He yelled at Edward, "You're surrounded. The only thing you'll do by hurting her more is piss them off!"

Lack of oxygen caused Leah's vision to fade. White spots appeared before her eyes, and the scene before her blurred. But she saw Jacob's enormous, red wolf in front of her. He stood directly between Edward and Bella, who was resisting Charlie's attempts to pull her into their yard.

Jacob's growls filled the air. He was alone in his mind, but Edward could hear his thoughts. _Let her go, Edward. This is between you and me. Let her go, and face me! Stop hiding behind an injured woman! Stop making your siblings fight your battles for you! Fight me like a man!_

Edward laughed, a mad, dark sound. "Do you honestly think you can appeal to my pride? How stupid and vain do you think I am? Why would I let my only bargaining chip go?" He saw Paul, Seth, Embry, and Quil arraying themselves around him, and he yelled, "No closer! Don't move! If any of you so much as blinks at me the wrong way, I'm snapping her neck!" He tightened his grip further. Leah raked at his arm in vain, but she could not relieve the pressure. Leah's vision dimmed. Faintly, she could hear Paul and Seth pleading for her to stay awake, to hold on.

"Of course you're not stupid," Rosalie answered. "You can kill Leah, and we all know it. But then where will you be? Surrounded by the pack with absolutely nothing left to lose! You'll never escape. You'll die right here, and they'll torture you for what you've done!"

"Which is why I'm taking her with me!" Edward declared. He started to walk backward, aiming for the slight gap between Embry and Quil. "She's coming with me to ensure my safety."

Leah couldn't see anything. The only thing she felt was Edward's arm cutting off her airway. The voices of her brothers faded away. She tried desperately to keep her senses, but there was nothing she could do. She was nearly unconscious. She reached up for a desperate swipe at his face with her claw, and with his free arm, he pinned her arms at her sides. But in the movement, his grip on her throat loosened infinitesimally, and she was able to gasp enough oxygen that her vision returned.

Jacob took one step forward for every one that Edward took back. _There's nowhere to go,_ he said. _What are you going to do? Drag an unconscious werewolf onto a plane with you? Try to shove her into the back of a car? You know I'll follow you. You know I'm not just letting you go. There's nowhere for you to run, nowhere for you to hide, that I won't find you and tear you to pieces!_

Edward hissed, "You don't have a choice! Either you let me go, or you watch her die right now! If you attack me, there is nothing you can to do save her! I will take as many of you with me as I can when I die!" His words were interrupted by the sound of an engine in the distance. He and Rosalie immediately recognized it: Carlisle's Mercedes. Edward’s grin made the wolves nervous.

Rosalie knew what he was thinking. "They're not going to help you, Edward! They're not here to fight for you, they're here to stop you!"

"Do you think so, sister? I can read their minds, not you! I won't die alone!" he declared. "Let me go now, or we will kill you where you stand!"

"You're lying!" Rosalie retorted. "Carlisle may be naive, he may be foolish, but he knows right from wrong! He isn't going to help you!" She said the words with conviction even though she doubted them, and Edward knew it.

"You're the one who's naive. I was his first creation. Do you think he would let me die? You were a mistake! You try to hold onto your humanity, but it's worthless! It's nothing! It makes you weak and pathetic. Bella understands. She understands what we are, and she covets it! She understands the gift we've been given, and she wants it for herself! And I intend to give it to her!"

Jacob told him, _You're delusional! You're crazy if you think you're getting out of here, let alone turning Bella._

Edward insisted, "I'll only give Bella what she wants! I know that your pride is wounded because she's chosen me over you, but you were delusional if you ever thought a savage mongrel like you could begin to compare to me! She knows the truth. She knows that you are a worthless, pathetic animal!”

Jacob phased so everyone could hear him. "Your words are meaningless, Edward!" Jacob ignored his insults. "You’re just trying to stall until the rest of them get here. But it doesn’t matter if your family is here or not. If they stand in our way, we’ll kill them all! We’ve been waiting for an excuse to tear all of you apart. I’ve already taken out Jasper and Alice, and I was alone. And it was so easy it was pathetic! Even if the rest of the coven backs you up, you’re outnumbered. We’ll kill anyone who fights us! If you care about them at all, you’ll let Leah go right now, and you’ll face me! Just you and me, do you understand? I’ll order the pack not to touch you. Just you and I, and we’ll see which one of us can kill the other! What do you say, Edward? Let Leah go, and face me like a man!"

Edward hesitated for a moment. He weighed his options, and he wanted a guarantee, not a challenge. He ignored Jacob’s deal. He kept stalling. He read Carlisle’s thoughts, and knew he was still torn. He could be swayed. Esme was ready to fight for Jasper and Alice, and the only thing holding Emmett back was Rosalie’s opinion. If he manipulated the situation correctly, he could have all three of them on his side. If they saw him being attacked, they would instinctively react and come to his aid. He called out to Bella, “My love, do you hear him threatening me? He is threatening us! He wants to take everything from us! No matter what happens to me, don’t listen to him! His jealousy has destroyed everything good in him! I didn’t hurt that man. I was trying to help him, and he’s using it as an excuse to attack me! He killed Alice and Jasper, and for nothing! We had a deal, a truce! He broke it, not me!” He turned back to Jacob. “You're the one who let your pride destroy everything, mutt! If you had just left us alone, no one would have gotten hurt! Your bitch here would be alive and well! Her death will be on you, not me!"  

Leah felt his grip shift as he spoke. He kept his right arm lodged against her throat, but he released her arms, and he gripped her muzzle with his left hand. He meant to snap her neck. She was certain. She didn’t hesitate. As soon as she could move, she swiped her claw backward, aiming for his eyes. But he knew her intention as soon as it formed, and he blocked the blow, snapping the bones in her forearm with his fist. She would have screamed if there was any air in her lungs, but there was not. With an incoherent scream, he choked her until she blacked out, and she shifted into her vulnerable, human body.

The involuntary transformation gave them just the distraction they needed. Paul leapt just as Leah started to slip in Edward’s arms, her nude, slender form sliding unconsciously down. Jacob screamed, "Go!" and the pack moved as one. Embry grabbed Edward’s left arm in his jaws before Edward could get a hold of Leah’s skull to twist her neck, and Quil dove for his right leg. Paul phased into his human body as he ran, and he yanked Leah away from Edward, sprinting toward Charlie and Bella with the limp girl in his arms. Jacob phased midair and plowed into Edward’s chest, sending him sprawling to the ground. His left arm and right leg tore away when Embry and Quil yanked back, and Edward screamed in pain.

Jacob loomed over Edward, jaws snapping and eyes flashing in victory. But he didn’t tear off Edward’s head. Not yet. Jacob nodded toward Rosalie, and Seth and Embry turned to flank her. Esme appeared first, and with a wail, she started to run toward Edward. Rosalie grabbed her arms, shoving her back. “Don’t! Don’t get yourself killed, not for him! He’s not worth it!”

“How can you say that? Edward!” Esme cried.

“These vicious animals have gone mad!” Edward wailed. “Save yourself!”

“I won’t leave you!” Esme told him as Rosalie shoved her at Carlisle, whose mouth hung open with an expression of despair. “I won’t lose anyone else!”

“What’s happening here? Let my son go!” Carlisle demanded. “He has done nothing!”

Rosalie insisted, “Stop being so blind! The pack has held up their end of the treaty, but Edward broke it!”

Jacob gestured for Quil to keep Edward pinned down, and he approached the rest of the coven, phasing as he walked. He stood before them, unashamed of his nudity. “He tried to kill me! He was going to ambush me, him, Alice, and Jasper!"

“You murdered them!” Emmett accused. “Don’t deny it!

Jacob snapped, “I killed them, of course I did!”

Emmett started to rush at him, but Rosalie jumped in front of him. “What are you doing?” he hissed. “Rose, get away from them!”

“I won’t! I’m taking a stand, and there is only one right choice to make, and it’s not with Edward!” she declared.

Jacob continued, “He lured me out there to face the three of them alone, to murder me, and I had every right to defend myself! He murdered that hiker, and who knows how many he killed before that? He broke the treaty, and I did the right thing by chasing him down. We have every right to kill him based on that alone, and the fact that he just tried to bite Bella just gives me another reason to kill him! He can’t be trusted! And look what he did to Leah! He almost killed her!”

The Cullens turned to see Paul’s enraged wolf standing guard over Leah’s unconscious body, Charlie and Bella behind him. “S-She must have done something to provoke him!” Esme stuttered.

“She attacked me!” Edward lied.

Rosalie spat, “Do you honestly think that’s going to work? We were all standing here, watching! Charlie, tell them!"

"Edward was trying to bite Bella! He tried to kidnap her! Leah protected her," he explained.

Jacob finished, "He decided to use Leah as a shield, a hostage, when he realized we had him surrounded. She was doing her duty, protecting a human from that monster!”

“I don’t care!” Esme wept, struggling to break free of Carlisle’s grip. “Let him go! I won’t lose any more of my family tonight!”

“We’ll fight for him,” Emmett declared. “I don’t care what he did or didn't do. You hurt my family, I will kill you.”

Jacob stepped forward, growling, “I’d love to see you try. Just give me an excuse to take out every one of you. The world will be a better place if I have an excuse to burn you all to ashes!”

But Rosalie put a hand out between Jacob and Emmett. “No.” Jacob started to protest, but she glared at her husband and said, "You attack the pack, you attack me. They’re right, and Edward is wrong, period.”

“Are you kidding? Get away from them!” Emmett scowled at her incredulously.

She refused. “Enough is enough! Carlisle, are you really going to let this happen? Are you really going to let us all tear each other apart? Are you going to stand there and defend Edward after what he’s done? You know as well as I do that he wasn’t trying to help! This isn’t the first time he’s slipped up, and if you let him go, it won’t be the last. How many people have to die before you’ll realize that?”

Carlisle’s face fell. He knew Rosalie was right, but he didn’t want to admit it. Esme, on the other hand, didn’t care who was right and who was wrong. “I don’t care! I don’t care about the treaty, and I don’t care what he did to that man! I’m sorry he got hurt, but it’s too late. Killing Edward won’t bring him back. We’ll go, all right? Just like after Jasper, only we’ll go for good! We'll never come back! Just let Edward go!”

Emmett’s eyes widened, and Carlisle tried to shush his wife. But it was too late. Her words had already slipped out. Rosalie stalked toward her. “What the hell are you talking about? What did Jasper do?”

“Nothing!” Esme realized what she had said only after it was too late. “He did nothing!”

Rosalie turned her fury toward Carlisle. The pieces started to fall into place in her mind. “Is that why they disappeared? Is that why we left?”

“What are you talking about?” Jacob asked Rosalie. “What did he do?”

Rosalie yelled, “That was why we left, isn’t it? It didn’t have anything to do with Edward feeling guilty over Bella, or what had happened with James? She cut herself.” She pointed at Bella. “At her birthday party, she cut herself on a piece of paper, and Jasper lost it. He attacked her. Edward stopped him, and he left, and I didn’t see him again. But he and Alice disappeared. They told me it was to look for a new house, but it wasn’t, was it? What the hell did Jasper do?"

“Bella’s birthday?” Charlie remembered, frowning. “That was when that boy disappeared, that football player. Biers was his name. Riley Biers. It was you, wasn’t it? It was one of you!” He pointed at the Cullens. "Did you kill him?"

“It was Jasper!” Rosalie realized. “Jasper turned him, didn't he? That’s why we left! He bit Riley? It wasn’t Victoria, was it? You said she turned him, but it was actually Jasper! The smell of Bella's blood was too much for him to handle, so he found someone else to satisfy his hunger."

Carlisle couldn't look her in the eye. "I'm sorry, Rose. He was sorry. We all were. But Edward stopped him. Edward saw what he was thinking, and he stopped him before it was too late! So you need to let him go! He saved Riley's life!"

"Then why isn't Riley one of us? Why was he with Victoria?" she asked. "Why are his eyes red? He obviously feeds from humans!"

"He made his choice," Carlisle explained. "We couldn't very well force him to abide by our diet. You know how hard it is for newborns."

"Then you should have stopped him! All the people he's killed? That's on Jasper! That's on us! Don't you see that? Oh my god, none of you told me! Emmett, you knew, didn't you?"

"I didn't," he said quietly. "I didn't ask, and no one told me. I didn't want to know. I thought maybe something happened, but I never guessed it was Victoria's new pet. I didn't know."

Esme’s face twisted into a mask of anger aimed at Rosalie. “Why would we tell you anything? We knew how you would react!"

Edward accused, "You judge us, and you lord your meaningless, human morality over us as if it means something. We respect Carlisle's rule, since he is our creator. But it’s against the natural order!"

Esme continued, "Why do think we don’t tell you anything? Why do you deserve to know, when this is how you react? Look at you! You're turning your back on your family! How can you do this to Carlisle? He saved you! If it weren't for him, you'd be long dead. And this is how you thank him?"

“Jasper was a murderer! What is it about that that’s so hard to understand?” Rosalie was indignant. “Edward is a murderer! Why doesn't that matter to you? We were human once! Don’t you remember?” She saw from Esme’s expression that she truly did not. She had forgotten so much of her former life that humanity itself was largely meaningless to her. She abided by Carlisle’s diet to please him, but that was all.

Carlisle, on the other hand, said softly, "I do. I remember. That's why I turned you. That's why I turned Edward, why I turned all of you. I was saving you. I made us into a family. Rose, I gave you your husband."

"And I'm grateful, Carlisle, but I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to be this family's conscience. I do it because someone has to, or people will die. People have died! Look at his eyes! He murdered someone! He's done it before, and he'll do it again. Why don't you care?" She glared at Emmett, and he stared at her in guilt and dismay.

Behind them, Edward snarled. “You’re fighting an unwinnable battle,” he told Rose. "You're fighting nature, and you can't win."

Quil moved to silence him with a paw, but Rosalie said, “No, let him speak.”

“You’re a traitor to your own kind!” Edward accused, and in his anger, he dropped his facade of humanity. “You’ve chosen to side with these mongrels over your own family, over the man who made you, and you say you’re the one who’s right? You live in a fantasy! You can let them kill me, but it won’t stop vampires from killing humans! They’re weak, and we’re strong. We don’t need to be right, not when we are as gods to them! We can choose to spare them, or not. It's our choice, because they can't stop us. They should be grateful to us for sparing so many of them. It’s a simple as that! One day you’ll finally slip, Rosalie, and then you’ll understand. You’ll finally give in to the temptation, and then you’ll know! And if you judge yourself like you’re judging me, you’ll have no choice but to kill yourself, and I will laugh at you when I see you in Hell!”

Bella gasped audibly at Edward’s words.

Carlisle's voice broke. "Son, that isn't what I taught you!"

"Because I can think for myself!" Edward said. "I respected your rules out of gratitude to you, but it's unnatural. It goes against the natural order. Jasper knew it, Alice knew it, even Bella knows it. Remember, I can listen to humans. I know them better than you ever will, Carlisle. I hear their thoughts, I know their innermost feelings. I know who they really are, and they aren't worth all your efforts. They aren't worth your time. They're petty, and selfish, and small, and stupid, and weak. They are beneath us. They don't deserve to be treated any better than these awful, savage animals!"

Edward struggled, but Quil was immovable. No one spoke. Esme looked at the surrounding pack, and she knew that Edward had just hammered the last nail in his own coffin. She looked at Carlisle's horrified expression, and she knew he wasn't going to fight for Edward. Neither was Emmett, who looked between Rosalie and Edward, and finally turned away, unable to watch. Esme couldn't rescue him alone. She turned her face into her husband's chest and clutched at his arms.

Rosalie turned her back on her family, suddenly exhausted, but fully resolved. "I'm so sorry I didn't prevent this," Rosalie told Jacob. She turned to Chief Swan. "They were my responsibility, and I failed. But I'm not going to make the same mistake again."

Jacob saw what she meant to do, and he put his hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do."

"You don't. I was made for this. He's my enemy in every way, but he's your brother, for better or worse. You've done enough," Jacob said.

"I made him a promise long before you were born, Jacob, and I mean to keep it. But I understand if you need to be a part of this. Together?"

Jacob nodded, and with a graceful movement, became a wolf.

Bella's knees buckled, and she started to gasp and hyperventilate. She only remained upright because of Charlie's arms around her. Quil stepped aside, and Edward took one last, desperate swing at Jacob, but Jacob caught Edward's fist in his paw and pushed it roughly to the ground. The wolf pinned him easily, kneeling onto his leg. He held him in place with his teeth buried in the stump of his other arm. Edward snarled wildly as Rosalie approached him. Bella whimpered his name, but he didn't even look at her.

"Take her inside," Rosalie said.

Charlie picked up a shaking, stunned Bella. He instructed Jacob, "You deal with them as you see fit. But one way or another, I never want to see any of you in my town, or anywhere near my child, ever again," he told Carlisle. Then he disappeared into his house with his daughter struggling against him.

Then Rosalie knelt above Edward's head. Softly, she said, "You did this to yourself, brother," and placed her hands on either side of Edward's skull. He screamed and thrashed against Jacob's grip, but to no avail.

Edward spat venom into Rosalie's face. "You worthless, disloyal..." But before he could finish, she cleanly twisted off his head and tossed it aside.

Esme wailed softly when she heard the sound. She couldn't watch, but Edward's head separating from his body was unmistakable. The wolves cleanly dismembered his body while Jacob stepped aside to don Embry's shorts, pulled a book of matches out the pocket, and with a flick of his wrist, lit it and tossed it onto the remains. The Cullens said nothing. Carlisle and Emmett stood as still as statues, the flames reflected in their golden eyes.

As a terrible stench filled the air, Seth, Quil, and Embry lined up behind Jacob. Paul carried Leah to safety behind them and covered her with Rosalie's jacket, and then he turned to face the remaining vampires with his brothers. Despite the fact that Sam was still technically the Alpha, they were united under Jacob's leadership. He stood before them proudly, his arms folded across his chest, towering over everyone, his body a wall of solid muscle. He looked far older than his years, and much wiser.

Carlisle addressed him meekly. "What really happened?" He was ready to listen.

In a clipped tone, Jacob told his side of the story, and then he demanded an accounting of their crimes. Carlisle admitted that they had covered for Jasper after he turned Riley, and they never told Rosalie after he committed murders while she and Emmett were traveling without the rest of the family. He suspected perhaps a half dozen deaths since Jasper joined the coven, but he actually didn't know the number nor the identities of Jasper's victims. Hundreds had preceded his marriage to Alice, while Alice had killed at least three people herself. Edward swore he only killed murderers, rapists, and other violent criminals before the hiker, but Carlisle admitted he had no way to verify the claims, and Edward had proven his word to be worthless. Esme said she had killed one woman when she was a newborn, plus her singer, years later. Otherwise she restrained herself out of loyalty to Carlisle. She found it quite difficult, which is why she seldom worked outside the house. Rosalie had isolated Emmett from humans for years, and he only started going to school when he was confident he had good control. But even Rosalie couldn't stop him from murdering his two singers. Carlisle said that he had only ever bitten members of his family to save them from death.

Jacob stared at them long and hard. "If I let you walk away, and any of you takes a human life, that's on me."

Rosalie shook her head. "No, it's on me. They were my responsibility. I allowed myself to be fooled, and I thought it was safe to go away for a little while. But now I know better. I won't let it happen again."

Paul started to growl. He didn't think they could be trusted. Then Leah began to stir behind him. She sat up, groaning, and Paul bent down next to her, purring low in his throat. She leaned on him for support, cradling her wrist and trying not to move her leg. "I trust her, Jake. The rest of them could go to Hell as far as I'm concerned, but they're all she has."

"You already killed those of us who were a real danger," Rosalie pointed out. "Jasper and Edward were the worst offenders, and Alice was dangerous because she was almost as obsessed with Bella as Edward was. But they're gone. Carlisle does a lot of good in this world. You have no justification in hurting him. He came to Leah's aid out of the goodness of his heart. Please don't return that favor by taking the rest of his family. I swear, I will make sure that none of us ever hurts a human again."

Jacob weighed his options. After what Edward, Jasper, and Alice had done, he had every right to kill them all. But they would fight, and there was no guarantee that his pack would walk away unharmed. Moreover, Rosalie had helped them without question. And without Carlisle's help, Leah might be dead. He looked at Rosalie and said, "I am holding you to that. Obviously you're capable of making the hard decision when it needs to be done, but you can't be too late next time."

Carlisle reassured him, "There won't be a next time."

"How can you be sure?"Jacob challenged. "It sounds like you're able to control yourselves around regular people, but what about your singers? What if one of those irresistible people shows up again? You insist upon living amongst humans, putting yourselves in public spaces where there are so many temptations."

"I don't," Esme denied. "I know my limitations, and I restrict myself to what I can handle."

"We'll go back to Alaska," Carlisle promised. "We'll avoid cities, but there are miles and miles of wilderness. The hunting is good, and we have friends there, other vampires that abide by our diet."

Jacob continued, "And you're not welcome here anymore. Not on the reservation, not in Forks, not in the state of Washington. Not now, not in 50 years, not in 100. And never contact Bella Swan, ever again, no matter how much she begs you."

"That's fair," Carlisle agreed.

"She's going to show up on our doorstep before we leave," Esme said. "What are we supposed to do?"

Before Jacob could speak, Rosalie snapped, "Just don't open the damn door! It's not that hard!"

"It would be cruel not to speak to her," Esme whined.

"Like we avoided her the last time we left? For god's sake, Edward told her she wasn't good enough for him. We all left without a word to her, and now you're worried about being rude? He destroyed that girl's self esteem instead of being honest about Jasper's fuck up. We never should have come back, and we'll do her an enormous favor by leaving and never contacting her again. Honestly, why are we here, really?"

"Because Edward loves... loved her," Esme insisted.

Rosalie countered, "That wasn't love. It was obsession. Infatuation. Look what he was willing to do to her! She's traumatized."

"No, he meant well. He wanted to be with her..."

Carlisle cut his wife off. "Stop defending him. She deserves to know the truth. It will help her move on."

"What truth?" Jacob demanded.

"No, you can't!" Esme grabbed Carlisle's hand. "He's already gone. Don't tarnish his memory!"

Carlisle held firm. "It's over. The least we can do for her is tell her what really happened. Jacob, I would like to talk to her one last time. It'll provide some closure for her, and she deserves to know."

"This just gets worse and worse," Leah muttered. "Rose?"

"I don't know," Rosalie said. "But I have a feeling I'm only going to feel better about killing Edward."

Jacob went into the house to retrieve Bella. After a short argument with Charlie, they both followed him out. Bella was furious. Her eyes were red and swollen, her skin blotchy, her hair in disarray. She looked lost until she saw Edward's smoldering remains. The sight was too much. Something broke inside of her, and she turned on Jacob in a blind rage. "What have you done? You took away the only thing that mattered to me! You said you were my friend. How could you do this to me?"

"For once in your life, shut your mouth and just listen!" Charlie reprimanded her.

But Bella was senseless in her despair. "There's nothing he can say that will make it any better! I'll never forgive him for what he did."

Leah snarled, "He doesn't need your forgiveness. He saved you. We all saved your life, you ungrateful, pathetic little bitch." She stood, leaning on Paul, clutching the jacket around her shoulders. "You should beg him for forgiveness, not the other way around. You don't deserve his pity, let alone his friendship or his loyalty."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Bella yelled.

Jacob ignored her outbursts. He told Carlisle, "She's here. Say whatever it is you have to say, or go. Because I'm pretty much out of patience."

Carlisle move forward, reaching for Bella's hand, but Charlie stopped between them, blocking his way. "Say whatever you have to say from over there."

Carlisle nodded and sought Bella's eyes. "My dear girl, we care about you so much. You are so very special to us. You were so special to Edward. He loved you in a way he never felt for anyone else."

Leah rolled her eyes. "Are you really doing this? Haven't you done enough damage already, tricking her into thinking that there was anything good between them?"

"I am sorry," Carlisle insisted. "I truly am. I just need her to know why he did what he did. Bella, we haven't been truthful with you. Edward loved you, yes, and he wanted you with us always. We all wanted you to be one of us. But instead of just being ourselves, just showing you how much we truly care about you, Edward was worried that it would not be enough. That you would reject him, reject us, or choose your human life or our eternal one. And he had waited so long to find you."

Bella wiped at her eyes. "What are you talking about? He was always telling me he wanted me to stay human."

Rosalie surmised, "He was telling you what he thought he should say, not what he actually wanted."

Carlisle nodded. "You have a family, you have others who care about you. He thought they would hold you back. He wanted you to understand the potential of what we are, of what you could be. But he knew that you aren't materialistic enough to be swayed by our wealth, or our beauty, or eternal life."

Rosalie couldn't contain herself. "Give me a break. If you think she's better than that, then you're all delusional."

Carlisle glared at her but otherwise ignored her. He continued, "He was so afraid of losing you. He was afraid of your human vulnerabilities, that they would take you from him. He wanted you to be one of us, but he wanted it to be your idea."

"What did he do?" Jacob demanded.

Esme tried to stop him one more time. She pulled at her husband's arm and whispered, "Please, it's all over. Let's just leave."

But now Bella wanted to know. She felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach, and she had to know. "What? What are you talking about?"

Carlisle could no longer meet her eyes. Softly, and with deep shame, he told her, "It was Edward who asked Laurent to frighten you. I didn't know, not until after everything had happened, not until James was dead and Victoria was stalking you. I had no idea. Believe me, if I had, I would never have let it happen."

Jacob's eyes flashed. "Are you talking about that leech we tore apart? What are you saying?"

"Edward met him on one of his travels. They became friends. He invited him to join us, but Laurent did not want to change his diet. He wasn't welcome to stay, but they kept in touch. And after Edward met you, he wanted to keep you. He wanted to be with you forever. But he wanted it to be your choice. He wanted to show you how delicate, how weak human life really is. He asked Laurent to frighten you, not to hurt you, just to make you understand how vulnerable you really are. But when Laurent came, he didn't come alone. James was never supposed to come, nor was Victoria. That wasn't Edward's idea. I promise, he never would have arranged such a thing if he knew those predators would fixate on you. Once he realized what was happening, it was too late. James had scented you, and you know the rest."

Charlie turned his daughter around bodily. "What's he talking about?"

Stuttering, Bella explained what had really happened when she disappeared to Arizona. She apologized profusely for telling him that he had anything to do with it, that she made him feel like a bad father. She told him how James had lured her into a ballet studio and threatened her, but put that Edward had saved her life. "If it weren't for him, I'd be dead right now."

Leah snapped, "Have you listened to a word he said? Edward nearly got you killed trying to manipulate you into becoming one of them! Honestly, I thought maybe you were just stupid and foolish. But you're not. You're willfully self-destructive, and you don't care who gets hurt, as long as you get what you want. I can't believe we put ourselves on the line for you. I can't believe I protected you. I should have let him drain your worthless body dry."

Jacob stopped her, but it wasn't to defend Bella. "Don't bother, Lee. She's not worth your breath, so don't waste it."

Bella's eyes widened indignantly. "Jake, you can't mean that!"

But he ignored her. To Carlisle, he asked, "Is there anything else? Or are you done?"

Carlisle said, "No, that's all. I didn't know any of this until much later, but it hardly matters now. Bella, Edward did love you, in his way. But don't canonize him. Please go on with your life. Forget about us. We're no good for you, and I am so sorry that I allowed you to get so close, that I allowed us the fantasy of having you join us. We've only brought you pain, and you deserve better."

Bella began to cry again, but Jacob was too disgusted with her to even look at her. "I expect you to be gone by the end of the day. Rosalie is welcome to wrap up your affairs, or frankly, to return at any time. She's more than proven herself. But the rest of you will be killed on sight." Bella made a strangled noise, and Jacob said in a hard voice, while staring into the trees with a fearsome expression, "And Bella, if I ever see you, and your eyes are any color besides brown, the same goes for you."

Without a second glance, he led the pack into the woods.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks again to my wonderful beta, Babs81410.


	29. Alpha

Paul followed Jacob away from the smoldering remnants of Edward Cullen. The stench was awful, so he buried his nose in Leah's hair as he walked, focusing on the fresh scent of her citrus shampoo. She cradled her broken wrist against her body, and he felt her wincing involuntarily with each step he took. Her breathing was rapid and shallow, and her body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. It wasn’t hot outside by any means, so he knew she was having a physiologic response to the pain. He tightened his grip on her, but there was no way to keep her comfortably still and still get her safely away. He felt anger rising in his chest as he looked at how swollen and bruised her leg was. He was mad at himself for not being able to carry her without hurting her, angry with Jacob for not getting to the Swans’ before she got hurt, furious at Bella Swan for getting them all into this mess, and livid at the Cullens for their crimes. Most of all, he was sick that she had put herself in the most dangerous place possible, all while injured. It was supremely satisfying to watch Edward burn, but he was still worked up. He would have happily torn into Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett if given the opportunity. For that matter, Bella deserved a swift punch to the gut, although he could never get away with hitting her. He had nowhere to direct his frustration. “What the hell were you thinking?” he hissed.

She sighed heavily. She had been waiting to be reprimanded ever since she made the decision to rush to Bella’s aid, although her pain distracted her somewhat from worrying. Her broken bones sent lancing pain through her limbs, and it narrowed her focus. “You know what I was thinking.”

“Your leg was already broken, Leah! Or did you manage to forget? Did you stop to think about what could happen to you even if you were at a hundred percent? Look what he did to you! Your leg is fucked up again, and now your wrist, too!”

She lied, “It’s just sprained. It’ll be fine.”

Quil actually snorted out loud. “Come on, girlie wolf. We all heard it snap. It’s broken.”

“Whatever," she sighed. "Everyone’s fine.”

“Except Edward,” Quil grinned.

Paul practically yelled, “And you! You’re not okay, so stop pretending that you are! Jesus. You’re not invincible. Do you get that?”

“My body has reminded me of that fact multiple times now,” she answered dryly.

Paul wanted to shake her. “So start listening to it! When your body says, ‘hey, I’m broken, give me a chance to mend up,’ don’t go running off to the first vampire fight you can find! That was so stupid!”

She squirmed in his arms, rapidly getting annoyed. “It worked, didn’t it?”

Seth backed up Paul. His sister was very brave, and he knew she was incredibly smart, but facing off against Edward had been incredibly foolish. “He’s right, sis. You nearly got yourself killed.”

“Bella wasn’t worth it,” Paul insisted.

The same thought had crossed her mind when she witnessed Bella’s ungrateful, cruel reaction to Jacob. “Maybe not, but what about Charlie? He’s a good guy, and if we hadn’t been there, what do you think would have happened to him?” she pointed out. “Besides, if Edward had managed to turn Bella, it’s not like she would have disappeared. We’d have just had one more rabid newborn vampire on our hands.”

Quietly but firmly, Jacob told her, “You did the right thing. It’s what being a Protector is all about. Putting yourself on the line for your people. Bella may not be one of us, but we couldn’t let her turn into a vampire either.”

“And we couldn’t let them get away with trying to hurt you,” Embry added.

Quil agreed. “I really wanted to take all of them out.”

“Me too,” Jacob sympathized. “But I’m not sure it would have been completely justified, and more importantly, they weren’t going to go down without a fight. It’s bad enough Leah’s hurt, but one or more of us could have gotten killed if we took on all of them.”

Leah added, “And we owed Rose. She’ll keep them in line.”

Paul knew they were right. He just couldn’t stand seeing her hurt. The pounding in his heart started to slow as they put more distance between themselves and the remaining Cullens. Eventually he whispered, "You have to stop scaring me like that," into Leah’s ear.

“I have to stop scaring me like that.” She chuckled, but it turned into a groan of discomfort.

Paul kissed her temple gently. “Where does it hurt? Your leg? Your wrist? Anywhere else?”

She curled closer to him, burrowing into his warmth as best she could. Her temperature hadn’t yet recovered after her exposure to Victoria’s venom, and she shivered. “Yes, yes, and yes.”

“I’ll take care of you. I’m not letting you out of my sight, actually,” Paul promised her. “And if I have to leave, I’m going to pack you in bubble wrap and tie you down, I think.”

“That sounds kind of comfy.” She yawned and closed her eyes, resting against his chest. “Just tie me to a bed, and make sure I have a pillow.”

Quil snickered, “Kinky.”

“Shut up!” Seth pouted. “She’s just really tired, and she needs to go to sleep. So no going after Sam now, okay, Leah? If you won’t stay down, I’ll get mom to make you stay down.”

“I promise, I’ll sleep,” she agreed. She was exhausted.

Jacob thought about facing Sam and stripping him of his Alpha powers before he had any chance to prepare, but he was dead on his feet. He hadn't eaten or slept in days, so he went home. Paul was worried that the other Alpha would find out what had happened and attack him while he slept, so he offered to stand guard. He brought Leah, since he refused to leave her alone for a second, and there he would protect them both. Seth followed, not willing to leave his sister’s side. Embry and Quil agreed that they should all stay together. They weren't completely convinced that the Cullens would leave without further retaliation, and they expected Sam to pop out of the bushes at any moment.

Everyone piled into the Blacks' house, where Billy and Sue waited anxiously. Jacob collapsed into the first chair that he saw and greeted his father wearily. He fell asleep while Quil boiled a pot of spaghetti and the rest of the pack explained what had happened. He didn’t even stir when the phone rang, and his father engaged in an exhausting, apologetic discussion with an irate Charlie Swan. He woke up briefly when Rosalie showed up, alarmed by the scent of the enemy, but she was only there to splint Leah's leg and arm and administer pain medication. He stayed awake just long enough to eat and shower. Rosalie talked with Billy and Sue while Jacob went to sleep. Embry and Quil passed out in the living room, while Paul carried Leah to Rachel’s bed and curled protectively around her. They fell asleep wrapped around each other. Only Seth remained awake at the kitchen table, sensing his mother's nervousness at Rosalie’s presence.

Sue studied Rosalie closely. “My children say we can trust you.”

Rosalie smiled softly. “You can.”

“She killed Edward herself, Mom,” Seth reminded her.

“But he wasn’t your husband,” Billy pointed out. “Could you do that to your husband if you had to?”

A flash of anxiety crossed her face. “If I must,” she answered. “But a long time ago, Carlisle and I agreed that if it was necessary, and if circumstances allowed, I would take care of Esme, and he would take care of Emmett.”

Billy was rightfully skeptical. “He didn’t take care of Edward or Jasper.”

“No, I suppose he didn’t.” Rosalie stared at her own hands. Grit from Edward’s skull was still lodged beneath her nails. She rubbed at the fine grains with the pads of her fingers. “I must be prepared to act according to my own conscience. I know that. If I have to take my husband’s life, I will do so, and then I will end my own.”

Seth started to protest, but Sue shushed him and asked a measured question. “How? How does someone like you take their own life?”

“Mom!” Seth was appalled at her line of questioning. “Rose had a pretty rough night. Maybe you can lay…”

“No, it’s all right,” Rosalie answered. “She isn’t asking me anything I haven’t thought of myself. Honestly, the easiest way is just to pick a fight with the wrong vampire. We’re not exactly known for our even tempers. All I’d have to do is throw the fight.”

Billy mused, “You really have thought about this, haven’t you?”

“For a long time,” Rosalie sighed. At Seth’s shocked expression, she reassured him, “I’m not suicidal, don’t worry. I harbor no guilt over what I did to Edward, only that I didn’t do it sooner.”

“You didn’t have a way to know,” Seth reassured her. “Not when the whole family was obviously hiding it from you.”

Sue nodded, satisfied. “With good reason, apparently. You’re the only one willing to make the hard decisions when they count. It sounds like everyone else just stuck their head in the sand, or actively tried to cover everything up. It took a lot of courage, what you did.”

Rosalie looked startled at the compliment. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

"So what will you do now?" Billy asked.

"Move to Alaska. We have friends there, and it's pretty easy to avoid humans. Esme already bought plane tickets. They’ll be gone by this afternoon."

Billy asked, “Are you going with them?”

“Jacob said I could stay to make arrangements...” she began hesitantly.

Seth told Billy, “Jake said she was welcome to be here, period, after what she did. I almost wonder if she’d be safer here with us. Esme was pretty mad.”

Rosalie chuckled. “I’m pretty sure I can handle myself. I appreciate the offer, but after what happened, I’m not leaving Esme to her own devices.”

Sue asked, “Do you think you could stay long enough to switch Leah’s back into casts? Or are the splints good enough?”

Rosalie was visibly relieved to have the distraction. She and her family needed some space away from each other, time to come to terms with what had happened. “Unfortunately, she’s going to have to be casted. I heard the snap; her wrist is definitely broken. And I’m not sure if she displaced her other fracture when she phased. Can you take her for an X ray? We can figure out what to do from there.”

Sue checked her watch. “I’d love to take her, but I actually have to go to work now, and I hate to get her up right after she fell asleep.” She stood and stretched. “I can’t believe I have an eight hour shift. I think I’m going to be late. I’ll take her after.”

“I can take her when she wakes up,” Rosalie offered.

After Sue left, Billy noticed Seth unsuccessfully trying to hide a huge yawn with his hand. “Why don’t you go to bed, son? I think one of the twins’ beds is still free.”

“Somebody’s gotta watch for Sam,” Seth explained. “I think I have first watch by default. Everybody else is unconscious.”

“I’ll keep an eye out,” Rosalie offered. “It isn’t as if I’m able to go to sleep, and I’d really rather not go home right now, if it’s all the same to you.”

Billy told her, “You’re welcome to stay, but it won’t necessarily help with Sam. He’s going to notice that no one’s phased in when his shift starts and no one is there to sign out to him. Maybe we should send Quil out so that Sam doesn’t realize anything’s amiss.”

Seth snorted. “That’s the best way to make sure Sam knows exactly what’s going on. Quil can’t keep a boring, little secret, let alone anything this big. I don’t know what to do. If Quil isn’t phased in, Sam’ll come looking, and this is a small reservation. He’ll find us soon, and I don’t know if Jacob will be up for another fight that soon.”

“Then we’ll tell him something else to get him off our backs, let everyone get a little more rest. Get Quil, will you?” Billy instructed a half-unconscious Quil to call Sam, repeat Sue’s clever lie that he was covering for an injured Embry, and claim that he was leaving patrol early to go to school to serve detention because of the number of his unexcused absences. With a little bit of luck, Sam wouldn’t figure out what had happened for a little while, and Jacob would be rested by the time he had to face Sam.

Quil was asleep again before his head hit the couch cushion. Seth was so happy to lie down that even the sight of Paul in bed with his sister didn’t keep him awake, but Billy was too wired to sleep. He sat in his kitchen with Rosalie, wondering what his ancestors would think of him for allowing a Cold One into his home. Of course, they were the ones who agreed to a treaty with vampires in the first place, so perhaps they wouldn't judge him too harshly. "Your face looks young, but your eyes are old," he told her.

"Older than yours," she said candidly, "but not wiser."

"I don't know about that. You've handled yourself very well. It isn't a thing that most anyone could do, regardless of age. You have a strong moral code. I admire that."

"Thank you. I think it might be the only thing I have left."

He wasn't sure how frank he could be. "Your family?" he asked tentatively.

She stared out the window where a light rain was falling and the clouds blocked out the rising sun. "My husband is angry, but he understands that I did what I had to do. Carlisle even agrees with me, I think. He just couldn't bring himself to do it even though he knew it had to be done. As for Esme, I don't think she'll ever forgive me."

Billy leaned forward until she was looking directly at him. "That implies that you have something you need forgiveness for. You don't. Don't let her tell you otherwise."

"I know. It's not easy, though. But at least she knows I'm serious. She knows she has to stay in line."

"You honestly think she will? You think she can really resist the temptation forever?"

"She doesn't have a choice, not if she wants to live."

Billy pushed her, "And will she want to live after so many of her family are gone?"

"She won't abandon Carlisle, or Emmett for that matter."

"Mmm..." Billy took a sip of coffee. "Your husband was one of the original signers of the treaty, was he not?"

Rosalie examined him closely. He looked very familiar, though she had never met him before. "Along with your grandfather, isn't that right? You look quite a bit like him. It isn't just your face. Your bearing, your demeanor, you remind me of him."

A genuine smile spread across Billy's face and touched his eyes. Sitting in front of him was not just an ally, but a living piece of history. "Do you remember him? When I was a child, he was already getting old. I saw his wolf once, and his fur was turning gray."

"When I knew him, he was still a young man. I'm not sure your father was born yet. Ephraim was a good leader, a good man. I know it was hard for him, making peace with us. It went against his natural instincts, but he did it for the good of the tribe. Not everyone agreed with him, I don't think, but he did what he thought was the best. He didn't let foolish pride get in the way. I always admired that." She went on, telling him what she remembered about his grandfather, the other protectors, and about his people. She was a wealth of information, better than a history book. Her eyes shone as she talked about another era, a bygone time, because she remembered it as if it was yesterday. She was happy to have someone to talk to, someone who was truly interested, someone who already knew what she was. There was no pretending, no hiding. She felt freer than she had in a long time, here in the home of her enemy. And she was delighted and honored when Billy asked if she would consider returning, not just to visit with him or Leah, but to counsel future generations of protectors. Suddenly eternity didn't seem quite so long or lonely.

An hour later, Billy left for the Council Hall. He wanted to stay with his son, but his absence would be noticed. He didn’t want to give Sam a reason to come to his house. Rosalie remained behind, occupying herself with Billy's books until Leah woke up. The throbbing in her broken bones urged her out of bed. Rosalie helped her friend wash up, and after laughing at Leah’s attempts to maneuver around the kitchen, she raided Billy's cabinet to prepare a large meal to feed the pack when they woke up. Paul wandered in when he realized he was alone in Rachel’s bed, and once he was sure that Leah would stay seated at the kitchen table, he took over duties at the stove. The appetizing smell roused Quil. He would have finished everything by himself if Paul hadn’t stopped him. Their raucous, good-natured arguing woke everyone else but Jacob. While the others finished their meals, Paul gave Leah a sponge bath and washed her hair. He was careful not to press too hard on the blossoming bruises on her skin. She appreciated how gentle he was, but she couldn’t draw a smile out of him until she noticed Quil in the hallway trying to sneak a peek. She tossed a wet washcloth at him, smacking him in the face and drawing a laugh out of Paul, who put Quil into a headlock and dragged him back out to the living room. Rosalie had to help Leah dress because the boys were too busy roughhousing, and then Rosalie and Paul took Leah to get x-rays. She didn't want to leave Jacob, but Embry, Quil, and Seth promised to stay with him. When Leah and Paul returned from the hospital, Jacob still hadn't woken up.

It was two in the afternoon when the ringing doorbell startled him out of his bed. He stumbled to the door, where Paul and Embry blocked his view outside. The rain had just stopped falling. “Go home,” Paul said. “She’s not welcome here.”

“We need to talk to Billy,” Charlie said.

“He’s not here,” Embry informed him. “Go to the Council Hall. He’ll still be there.”

Jacob tapped on his brothers’ shoulders, and they stepped aside. “Chief Swan,” he greeted them formally. He glanced at Bella, whose red, puffy eyes could not meet his. “Bella. Why are you here?”

Charlie straightened to his full height, but he still had to crane his neck upward to look Jacob in the eye. “For an explanation,” he said sourly. Then he looked at his daughter. “And…” he prompted her. Bella just shrank in on herself and stared at the ground. He spoke to her like an insolent child. "Bella, don't you have something to say to Jacob?"

She said nothing, only tucked her chin to her chest and wrapped her arms against her belly. Jacob didn't have time for her petulance. He felt bad for Charlie, but he was much more concerned about Sam and Emily than he was about two hapless humans. He didn't have the time or the energy to pacify either of them. "My dad's not here."

Charlie shifted awkwardly, uncertain how to approach Jacob. This was a boy he had known since infancy. He almost thought of him as his own. He was the one who drove Sarah to the hospital when she went into labor with the twins, because Billy was out on his fishing boat. Billy called him when Jacob said his first word, and he was there when he took his first steps. He remembered the boy's smile over the years, from his missing front tooth at age 6 to the naïve, hopeful smile when he saw Bella as an adolescent. He watched Billy care for his son, and as Jacob grew, he watched the son care for the father. He had grown into a fine young man. He was a protector in the truest sense of the word.

Jacob was looking down on them with an expression of weary impatience. "My dad can tell you what you want to know, so unless there's something else…"

Charlie spoke when he realized that his daughter wasn't going to. He awkwardly cleared his throat. "I just need to thank you, that's all, all of you. You saved her life back there, and we’re both enormously grateful."

Bella swallowed thickly, but otherwise was quiet. It wasn’t clear if she was angry, sad, or ashamed of herself. She shuffled her feet until she was turned away from them.

Paul rolled his eyes. “Leah’s the one who saved her life, and she’s the one who got hurt defending her. Bella should get on her knees and thank her.”

“Yes, I was there,” Charlie agreed. “If it weren’t for her…”

Bella still didn’t speak, but she made a choking noise, and she started to cry. She ducked her hair in an attempt to shield her face, but it was pointless.

“What?” Paul snapped. Bella shook her head, but they all knew what she was thinking. “What, you wanted him to turn you, right? Are you actually mad at Leah for saving your life?”

“It wasn’t her choice to make!” Bella whipped around, glaring at Paul. “It wasn’t her place, just like it wasn’t Jacob’s place to… to…” She started to hyperventilate, and her face turned red.

“Bella!” Charlie was appalled. “Stop defending Edward! Do you realize how you sound? Do you realize what you’re saying?”

Paul didn’t bother lowering his voice. “Oh, fuck that. We should have let him turn her. Then Leah wouldn’t have a broken arm, her leg wouldn’t be so fucked up, and we’d have an excuse to burn this pathetic excuse of a human.”

Bella finally looked up in shock. She wasn't used to anyone speaking to her in such a manner. She looked between Paul and Jacob, finally asking, "Jake?" She expected him to come to her defense like he always had.

After the way she had treated him, his patience was gone. "Yeah? What do you expect, Bella? Why the heck did you come here today? To give Leah grief for saving you? She almost died for you. Go home.”

“I didn’t ask to come here!” Bella whined. Charlie stared at his daughter incredulously, wondering who she really was.

Leah appeared behind Paul, placing her hand on his arm for support. He stepped aside so that she could talk to Bella. “Don’t worry,” she said coldly. “The next time someone tries to kill you, I won’t stop them.”

Jacob was tired of the conversation. He looked to Charlie. “So she's alive, and you're alive, neither one of you got hurt, and you're safe. Am I missing something, or are we done here? Or are you here to get us to keep her from running off and trying to get one of them to turn her?"

Charlie’s head snapped up. “Is that a possibility? Are there more of them out there? Is she still in danger?”

Jacob didn't back up to let them in. If Charlie wanted answers, he could find them elsewhere. The sooner he got Bella away from the increasingly angry pack, the better. Even even-tempered Embry was glaring daggers at Bella. "What, more vampires? In general? Yeah. There are lots. But the ones who want your daughter dead are all taken care of. Edward killed one himself, and we got rid of the others."

Charlie sputtered, “Wait, the others? How many were there?” He turned to his daughter. “What did you get yourself mixed up in?"

“I… I didn’t… There isn’t… I didn’t do anything wrong!” Bella sputtered.

Jacob stepped back and put his hand on the door. “Looks like you guys need some time to talk. We’re going to give you some privacy.”

“Wait!” Bella finally made eye contact with him. She panicked. “You can’t do this! You can’t take him from me and then leave me unprotected! You can’t do this to me!”

“Excuse me?” Jacob snapped. “We are the only ones who’ve been protecting you this whole time! You know who’s making it impossible? It’s not the vampires. They, at least, have an excuse! They’re supposed to want to eat you! You’re the one with the stupid death wish who keeps begging them to do it!”

Bella began to snivel as tears ran down her face. “And if you let them, they will! I wanted Edward to do it, to turn me, but now that he can’t, it doesn’t mean I’m out of danger. The Volturi said that I don’t have a choice. They aren’t going to let me remain human and live.”

“What are you saying, Bella?” Jacob’s patience had run out. “Are you telling me that a fucking vampire army is going to show up to murder you?”

“Or turn me themselves,” she sniffed. “Unless someone helps me, I don’t know what to do.”

Jacob didn’t get a chance to yell at her for her foolishness. Neither did the rest of the pack. Charlie spun her to face him and demanded answers. “What have you done? What the hell are Volturi? What did you get yourself mixed up in?”

The pack watched the spectacle for a few minutes. Bella kept looking to Jacob, hoping he would rescue her, but he just stood there with his arms folded across his chest. Eventually Charlie tired of the way his daughter was waiting for someone else to answer for her, and he told Jacob, “We aren’t done. I’m coming back for answers.” Then he ordered Bella to get in the squad car.

Jacob shut the door while Charlie and Bella argued. He could still hear them through the closed door. He sat down at the kitchen table and covered his ears with his hands. “Can someone make them shut up?”

Paul gave him a lethal grin and sat down across from him. “I’m happy to make that whiny bitch shut up, but Charlie might not appreciate it too much, and I’m pretty sure he’s got his gun on him. What the hell did you see in that girl?”

“I can’t remember,” Jacob mumbled without taking his hands off his ears.

“White knight complex,” Leah said succinctly as Paul settled her in his lap.

Jacob sighed. “I guess. I thought once Edward couldn’t manipulate her anymore, she’d, like, wake up or something. Go back to normal.”

“Nah,” Leah disagreed. “She wasn’t under a spell. This is the real her. Anything else was an act.”

Paul peeked at the police car sitting outside. “Are we actually going to do anything about these other vamps coming after her?”

“I don’t know. We might not have a choice. But fighting the Cullens was one thing. These other guys sound like an army, or the vampire police or something.” Jacob opened his eyes and stared at Leah’s splints. Suddenly he felt terribly guilty. “I’m sorry I got you into this mess, Leah, especially now that she’s acting this way. I can’t ask anyone to put themselves on the line for her. I don’t know.”

She reassured him, “It’s okay. You didn’t make this situation what it is, she did. It was my choice to step between her and Edward. Plus, it was all worth it to watch you and Rosalie pull Edward apart.”

Jacob grinned. “That was pretty sweet, wasn’t it?”

“Maybe you can tear Sam’s head off next,” Paul suggested. “Asshole’s got it coming.”

The smile vanished from Jacob’s face. “He really does, doesn’t he? And Emily too. I’d never have guessed, not in a million years.”

“If she needs her head ripped off, can I do it?” Paul asked.

Quil joked, “Leah has dibs, I think.”

Jacob slumped down in his seat. “Are we actually having this conversation? We are, aren’t we? I’m not still asleep, am I? Because the past couple days make for a really good nightmare. I kind of want to wake up now. Or go back to sleep...” he muttered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Alice’s cell phone. “Nope. Looks like it’s real.”

“Anything useful in there?” Leah asked.

Jacob shrugged and slid it across the table. “It’s locked. I don’t know the passcode. I was able to answer it when Emily called, but I can’t get into it otherwise.”

Paul poked at the screen in futility before setting it down again.

“So what next?” Seth asked. “What do we do about them? Or do we go out there and deal with Bella and Charlie?”

Instead of answering directly, Jacob asked, “What time is it?”

“2:13,” Quil said.

“Then she’ll be alone,” Jacob realized. He stood up and said, “Come on. Let’s go see what Emily has to say for herself. She may be human, but she’s more of an immediate threat than whomever Bella’s bitching about. But no one kill her, okay?” He headed for the back door. Charlie and Bella wouldn’t see them leaving that way.

“I make no promises,” Paul grumbled.

Everyone stood to follow him, including Leah. Paul tried to stop her. “Uh, where do you think you’re going?’

“I’m coming,” she said, reaching for her crutches.

“No, you’re not,” Paul told her firmly.

She gave him a pointed look. “Are you planning on stopping me?”

“Leah,” Jacob pointed out, “It’s not going to be safe. Sam’s not going to go down without a fight. You’re not in any condition to face him.”

She cocked her head at him. “I’m not fighting him, Jake, you are. I’m not staying here while you kick his ass.”

“It’s not going to be safe,” Paul repeated.

She pointed out, “And you think I’ll be safer here by myself? You think you should go talk to Emily, weak, human Emily, by yourselves, and leave me here, alone, down to one good arm and one good leg, waiting to see if Sam decides to stop by?”

“Let her come, Jake,” Embry urged.

Quil winked at her. “After what she told Bella, I kind of want to watch her rip into Emily. Bring her.”

“We’ll make sure she doesn’t get hurt,” Seth said.

Leah gave Paul a falsely innocent smile. “Unless you want to stay here with me and miss the action.”

Jacob shook his head and walked out the door. “Come on, then.”

X-x-x-x-X

Emily couldn’t hide the expression of alarm that crossed her face at the sight of Jacob standing on her porch. Her mouth dropped open in surprise, the movement tugging her scars downward, resulting in an odd grimace. She quickly tried to replace it with a bright smile, but the affectation was obviously false. “Jacob! You're here! I am so glad that you're okay! You are okay, aren't you? I was so worried!"

Jacob didn't bother with pleasantries. He stepped forward, and she moved out of his way. "No thanks to you." He walked into her entryway, glowering down at her.

Paul helped Leah inside and settled her on the couch. _My couch_ , she thought idly. She had purchased it, one of the first pieces of furniture for her cabin. It was the last place she and Sam had made love. Had Emily even bothered to turn the cushions over? She shook the disturbing thought free and looked outside where Quil, Embry, and Seth had posted themselves as sentries around the house. If Sam returned, they would hear him coming, and they could still hear everything that was said inside.

Emily eyed their movements warily through the window, and she asked Leah, "Are you okay? I heard you broke your leg, but Sam didn't say anything about your arm.”

"Don't pretend like you care about what happens to either of us, "Jacob said bluntly. "Just drop the act. We know. We know what you've been doing."

Emily chuckled nervously. "What? What are you talking about? Do you guys need to talk to Sam? Because he's going to be back really soon."

Paul instructed her, "Don't worry about him.”

Jacob continued, “I'll take care of him whenever he decides to show his face. But in the meantime, you're going to tell us everything."

Emily looked between them, trying to figure out how to respond. She tried to stall, backing toward the kitchen. "Okay, I'm happy to talk about whatever you want. Let me just go put on a pot of coffee, and I can grab some muffins for all of us. I made them fresh this morning."

“Don't bother," Jacob told her. "We don't want food, we want the truth."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Emily claimed.

"Stop playing dumb. You know exactly what we're talking about." When she didn't answer, Jacob nodded at Paul, who grabbed Emily's purse off an end table and headed outside.

She moved to follow him, but Jacob barred her way. She demanded to know, "What's going on? What is Paul doing with my things?"

Leah had been watching Emily closely. In retrospect, she couldn't believe she had failed to realize how deceitful Emily was. Had she always been so bad of an actress? She was visibly shaken, nervous, and clearly lying through her teeth. But the indignance she expressed was real. Leah answered, "You'll find out soon enough. Or you could just answer Jake's questions. There's no point in prolonging this. We all know."

"Know what?" Emily continued to pretend. "I have no idea what you're talking about! You just barge in here and start accusing me of things, and you won't even tell me what? What's going on?"

"What's going on is that Jasper spilled his guts before I killed him,” Jacob told her bluntly. "So quit lying to me. I know what really happened. What I don't know is why."

Emily continued to insist she was ignorant. "Jasper? One of the Cullens? You killed him? Why, and what does that have to do with me? I don't know what you're accusing me of, but I don't like it. And Sam's not going to like it either. He's not going to let you get away with this, coming into our home and accusing me. I haven't done anything wrong!"

Jacob scoffed. "You think Sam can protect you? After what you did? You may have Old Quil wrapped around your little finger, and you may have turned Sam into your slave, but you don't have any power over me. You don't have any power over the pack, not anymore. Not after what you've done."

“I haven’t done anything!” Emily insisted.

Paul reentered the house holding Emily’s second phone aloft. “Then what’s this?”

“What, that? I don’t know. How should I know?”

“Because it’s yours,” Paul told her. “It was in your car.”

Emily stammered, “S-so s-someone must have dropped it. That’s not mine. This one’s mine!” She picked a cheaper, older phone off the kitchen counter.

Paul laughed darkly. “Someone wrapped this in a map and dropped it in your glove compartment? Right.”

“Hmm,” Jacob pretended to consider the possibility. “Could be. People drop things like that all the time. Someone else just dropped this one in the woods.” He pulled Alice’s phone from his pocket. It was the same model. “You think people would be careful with these things. They’re awfully expensive.”

“What’s that?” Emily asked, her face turning pale. “Who’s is that?”

Jacob shrugged. “The owner is dead, so I think it’s mine now.”

For a moment, Emily looked a tiny bit relieved. “Is that Jasper’s? You said you killed him.”

“Oh, I did. But this isn’t his. This belonged to his lovely wife. It fell out of her pocket before I lit her on fire, and it rolled safely out of range. Didn’t get damaged a bit during the fight.”

Paul turned Emily’s phone on, but it, too, was locked. “What’s the code, Emily?”

“How should I know? It’s not mine!”

“Of course it’s yours,” Jacob growled and stepped toward her. She backed up until she ran into the kitchen island. “You used it to call Alice.”

Emily broke out into a sweat and insisted, “I didn’t. I would never. I’m on your side. You know me!”

Jacob shook his head. “I thought I knew you. I knew the person you were pretending to be.” He tossed Alice’s phone to Leah, who rapidly unlocked it using the code Rosalie had given her. Although the vampires managed to keep many secrets from each other, Rosalie’s sharp eyes had seen Alice unlock her phone on multiple occasions.

Emily lied, “I haven’t done anything wrong!”

Leah quickly found the call log and found the last call received. She held it aloft to show Emily. “Then why were you talking with Alice Cullen?” She touched the number, and the matching unit in Paul’s hand began to ring.

"I swear, that's not mine!" Emily protested.

“I fucking heard you!” Jacob swore at her. “Stop lying, Emily. I heard you! I answered that phone when you called, so stop lying to me!”

She squirmed, trying to get away, but Jacob wouldn’t budge, and there was nowhere for her to run. “It wasn’t me!” she cried as the phone continued to ring. “I didn’t do anything! It was just someone who sounded like me!”

“Give it up!” Paul yelled. “I was here. I was right out there.” He pointed into the woods. “I was watching you. I saw you pull this out of your car, and I saw you make the call. I just didn’t know who you were talking to until Jake got back!” He ended the call, barely managing to avoid breaking the phone in his fist.

Emily’s heart rate started to speed, and her eyes flitted anxiously between the three angry wolves before her. “It’s not my fault. You don’t understand.”

But Jacob had no sympathy. "What did you want to know, whether they’d managed to kill me yet? Well, they didn’t!” He loomed over her. “I’m right here. You’ll find that I’m pretty hard to kill!”

Emily realized she was caught, and she squirmed away. He allowed her to scoot around the counter. After all, there was nowhere for her to hide, and she couldn’t hurt him. “Jacob, you don’t understand. It wasn’t my fault.”

“So explain!”

“It was all them. They threatened me!” she claimed. “They said they’d kill me if I didn’t help them!”

“They?” Jacob asked. “Who is ‘they’?”

“The Cullens! They wanted to hurt you, not me! But they threatened me, and I didn’t have a choice!” She began to weep. She sounded terrified, and Leah suspected that her fear was real. But she was afraid of being exposed, not afraid of the Cullens.

Leah snapped at her. “Bullshit. No one made you send Alice and Jasper out to kill Jake. You were here alone when you called them. No one was holding a gun to your head, and there were no vampires stalking you and threatening your life. That was all you!"

Emily held up her hands pleadingly. “I would never! You can’t possibly think I’d do something like that! That’s awful!”

“Fucking Christ, cut the bullshit, Em! We know what you did!” Leah jabbed her finger at Alice’s phone and turned on the speaker.

A tinny but unmistakable version of Emily’s voice rang out. “Alice, it’s me. You may have figured this out already, but Jake went after Edward. He’s going to kill him. You’d better go after them if you want to save Edward. He’s no match for all three of you at once. Call me when you get this, okay? I’ll try to check the phone as often as I can.”

Emily started hyperventilating, and she darted to the right, but Paul moved to block her way. She turned around, but Jacob was right behind her. The stove hemmed her in on one side, the kitchen island on the other. There was nowhere else to go. Leah told her coldly, “Edward didn’t threaten to kill you. He threatened to tell the pack that you were already betraying us. We know you were spilling information to Victoria and Riley, so stop pretending. It’s not pretty, and it’s not working. There’s no lie you can tell that will make you look any better. Your life wasn’t in danger. Edward was long gone, Victoria was already dead, and you were here, safe, with all of us protecting you and the reservation.”

Jacob just growled one word. “Why?”

And suddenly the tearful, frightened expression disappeared from Emily’s face. It was replaced by cold calculation. "Why would I tell you anything? What's in it for me?"

Jacob was so startled by the dramatic change in her tone that he didn't know how to respond. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," she repeated. "Why should I tell you anything? Are you going to make me a deal?"

He stared blankly at her, astounded by her gall. "A deal? For what?"

"I walk away safely. No one comes after me, nobody tries anything against me."

"Tries anything? What are you talking about?" Jacob asked. Angry as he was, the thought of physically hurting her had never crossed his mind.

Leah realized what Emily was doing. "She's trying to cut a deal, like a plea deal, like lawyers do. Because she's guilty, and she wants out."

Jacob shook his head incredulously. "This isn't a court of law. I just want answers."

Emily coolly slid past him and sat down at the kitchen table. "How badly do you want your answers? Because they have a price."

"What the fuck do you want, Emily?" Paul asked, wondering what she could possibly ask for. Her gall was incredible.

She shrugged. "It's like I said. I don't want any of this following me, do you understand?"

Jacob put his hands on the table and leaned over it. "No! What are you talking about? Following you around? What does that even mean?"

"It means that she knows she didn't just do something wrong," Leah explained. "She tried to kill you. That's attempted murder. She doesn't want the tribal police coming after her. She wants to stay out of jail, like anybody else trying to cut a deal."

Jacob asked, "Is that right? Is that what you're asking for? I wasn't going to go to the police. None of this is a police matter. The police can't do anything about Cold Ones. And if I try to get them involved, I'll look like a lunatic. Emily, in this situation, I am the police!"

"Then I want reassurance that you're not coming after me. I want to know I'm safe," she repeated.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" Jacob could hardly believe she would think such a thing of him. It was offensive. "Just tell me what the hell is going on!"

"You'll excuse me if I won't take your word for it. I know what you're all capable of. Sam loves me more than anything, and he still did this to me." Emily pointed at her scarred face.

Jacob took a deep breath to calm himself, and he sat down across from her. "I have always been able to control myself better than any of the others. If I was going to hurt you, I'd have done it already. So talk."

Emily settled back in her chair, examining him carefully now that she wasn't so frightened. She believed him. "I didn't say that was all. I have a life here, and I expect you're going to make me leave it all. Seeing as I'm going to have to start all over again, I'm going to need some resources to do that."

Jacob still didn't get it. "Resources?"

"The Cullens were paying you off, weren't they?" Paul determined. "You want cash, you get it from them."

"She can't," Leah reminded them. "The ones she was dealing with are all dead. Carlisle's not going to settle up with her. But Jacob, don't bother with her. You're not going to get any useful information."

"Leah," Emily said in a warning tone, but she had no way to stop her from talking.

Leah snapped, "I'm done listening to your pathetic justifications, Emily, so shut it. Jake, even if she was willing to talk, she doesn't have anything to say that's going to explain this properly, that's going to make it better. You're not going to get an answer that wraps this up neatly, because she doesn't have one. She's just greedy and power-hungry, that's all. So don't let her drag you into something. It's pointless. Anything else she tells you will be a lie."

Paul agreed. "She's right. It's useless to ask her why she did what she did. It's not like anything she can say will make it okay."

Jacob sighed. He was angry, but he had hoped that she would provide some kind of explanation. But they were right. He glanced over her shoulder and out the window. Embry, Quil, and Seth were gathering at the treeline, peering into the woods, and there was only one reason they would do that. Sam was coming. "Fine. Just the facts, then. When did Sam get in on this? Was killing me his idea or yours?"

Emily answered, "Sam knows nothing, because there's nothing to know. If the vampires tried to kill you, that was all on them!"

Leah rolled her eyes. "Are you honestly still trying to tell us that? You heard the damn voicemails! How stupid do you think we are?"

"I'm going to find out one way or another," Jacob said, "so you might as well tell me."

"You still haven't given me any reason to tell you anything. How stupid do you think _I_ am?" When they didn't answer, Emily huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Jacob gritted his teeth together. "Fine, then. I'll find out what I want to know from Sam. I'll make him tell me."

Outside, Sam appeared. He phased into his human body to talk to the others. Emily had her back turned to the window and didn’t see. Leah nodded at Jacob to warn him, but he knew exactly what he was doing. He hadn't planned on confronting them together, but he could turn it to his advantage.

"You're free to try," Emily told him. "He's not going to tell you anything that implicates me. I'm his imprint, remember? I'm the most important thing in his entire universe."

"That's not going to help you this time," Paul reminded her. "We can see inside his brain, remember? He's pretty good at hiding his thoughts, but he's not perfect. We're going to get the information we're looking for, one way or another."

Emily's voice was cold. "Be my guest. See what you can beat out of him. It makes no difference to me."

Leah was shocked by Emily's callousness. It had never occurred to her that her cousin didn't actually care for Sam. Had it always been that way, or had something changed? She glanced outside, where Sam was frozen in place, staring inside. He had heard her. "You can't mean that," she prodded. "He's going to be your husband. Don't you care what happens to him?"

Emily's eyes flashed in anger. "He can recover from an injury like that." She snapped her fingers. "Most of us aren't so lucky." They knew she was referring to the permanent disfigurement she had suffered at his hand. "Hell, it's about time someone paid him back for what he did to me, so go ahead. Do your worst. And I don't think you actually have the guts to hurt him anyway. You're too weak. That's why Sam phased first, because you don't have what it takes."

Jacob goaded her on. Sam was still outside, listening to every word Emily said. "Then how come I'm the one who killed three of the Cullens, and not him? Being Alpha is my birthright, not his. Do you honestly think I can't take him down? If you think he can protect you now, you're in for a very nasty surprise. I'm really looking forward to kicking his ass. I'm going to enjoy dragging every sordid, ugly little detail about you out of his brain. I don't need you to tell me anything. He'll tell me everything I need to know."

Emily slapped her palms on the table and leaned toward, a twisted grimace on her face. "I don't need his protection! I don't need anyone's protection! I can take care of myself! What do you think I've been doing since this entire mess started? And beat him to a bloody pulp. What do I care? If I really did something so bad, you think I'd tell him? How stupid do you think I am? You think I could forget about the pack mind? If I had some nefarious plan, do you really think I'd tell someone incapable of keeping it a secret? Besides, Sam would never betray me," Emily insisted. "I'm his imprint. He literally can't turn against me. I'm the most important thing in his whole universe, and I always will be."  
  
"You really think so?" Paul asked. "You say you didn't tell him what you were doing. You honestly think he's not going to care that you betrayed all of us to Victoria and the Cullens?"  
  
Emily actually laughed. She completely missed the sight of Sam exploding into a growling mass of fur and muscle in their backyard. "You say that as if he has any choice in the matter. You can't seem to wrap your puny little brain around this, but he doesn't have a choice. I'm his imprint, which means he has to do whatever I say." She directed a smug smirk at Leah. "If I tell him to jump, he doesn't even have to ask me how high. He already knows. If I tell him the sky is pink, he believes every word. If I want him to dump his snobby girlfriend, I don't even have to ask. And if he thinks you're threatening me, he will kill all of you if I want him to. He won't have a choice."  
  
Jacob grinned at Emily as he stood up. "I think we should test that theory, don't you?" He threw open the back door, and Emily finally saw the black wolf. He snarled, and she realized that he had heard everything. She gasped in surprise and darted towards the opposite door. Paul blocked her way, barring her attempted escape. "Where do you think you're going?" He shoved her toward the rear window. "I think you really ought to be here for this."

They watched as Jacob threw his clothes to the side and yelled, "You are done, Sam!"

Sam didn't hesitate. He charged at Jacob, hoping to take him out before he had a chance to phase. But Jacob's control was too good. He turned to the side and transformed just in time, absorbing Sam's blow. It was painful, but only painful enough to make Jacob angry. As Sam tried to find his footing, Jacob slashed at his foreleg, causing Sam to lose his balance. It gave Jacob enough time to slide out from underneath him. As he turned to face him, Jacob said, _It's over. You're not going to abuse your position anymore. You're not going to abuse anyone anymore._

Sam and Jacob began to circle each other while Embry, Seth, and Quil phased to join them. The rest of the pack realized they could hear Jacob through Sam's mind. Sam answered, _Do you honestly think you can stop me? You're a child. You don't know anything about being Alpha, and you're kidding yourself if you think you can beat me._

_I know I can beat you._ Jacob had no doubt. _Just like I tore Alice's head off, like I ripped Jasper to shreds. Just like I took a stand and did what you never had the guts to do, and I killed Edward. So you can forget asking your friends for help. None of them are left. They're ashes._

Sam stopped circling momentarily. _My friends? What the hell are you talking about? Bella's the only leech-lover around here, and she's your friend, not mine. But what the fuck did you do? Did you start a god damned war with the Cullens? You've put the whole reservation in danger! You idiot!_ Sam leapt at Jacob, who feinted to the side. Sam skidded in the mud, narrowly avoiding impalement on the dead branch of a pine tree.

Jacob moved a safe distance away. _Danger? That's rich! I've protected the rez. The Cullens that are left are leaving, and no thanks to you! If it was up to you,_ Jacob accused, _Edward would still be out there! I chased him down and took him out when you didn't have the guts to do it, and he was a damn murderer! Jasper was, too. So don't talk to me about which one of us is keeping the reservation safe!_

_What the fuck are you talking about?_ Sam demanded. _What the hell have you done? They're going to retaliate, and if one of our brothers gets hurt, that's all on you!_ His words triggered memories of the night before to rise. Images of Leah being assaulted by Edward flooded the pack mind, bombarding Sam with chaotic, incomplete information. _Jacob, you fucking idiot! You got her hurt, didn't you! I'm going to fucking kill you!_

When Sam pounced, Jacob was ready. They clashed in mid air and tumbled back to the ground. Sam managed to sink his teeth into Jacob’s shoulder, but Jacob clawed at Sam's face until he let go. Seth yelled at Sam, _You hypocrite! You're the one who hurts my sister, and you do it over and over again! We know you tried to rape her! We know everything!_

Sam was so startled by Seth's revelation that he failed to protect his flank. When Seth slammed into him, he fell. _What the hell are you talking about? I would never do anything to hurt Leah, let alone rape her!_

Seth snarled, _You ordered her to keep quiet, and you ordered her to hold still while you touched her. We know all about it. If Jared hadn't come along, you would have raped her. And I'm going to kill you for it._

Seth crouched, preparing to jump, but Sam yelled, _Stop!_ and Seth froze. _Get back! Everyone back off. This is between Jacob and me. Nobody else move!_

Sam had hoped that his order would work on Jacob too, but it did not. Jacob told Seth, _I know you want a piece of him, but this has to be between me and him. Once I'm done with him, he'll never hurt your sister again._

As they began to circle one another again, Sam insisted, _I could never hurt her. It's not possible. We love each other, we always have, and no one can come between us, not you, not that juvenile asshole Paul, not anybody._

This time Jacob went on the offense. He crashed into Sam's shoulder, shoving him backward, and roughly bit at the thick fur on the back of his neck, tearing away a chunk. _What about Emily? You don't think she came between you? You blind idiot! You think Leah loves you after what you guys did to her? Did imprinting make you stupid, or just blind? She hates you!_

Sam winced at the pain but pushed back, shoving Jacob into a tree. _She doesn't hate me, she's still in love with me! She loved it when I touched her! You should have heard her moan. She's been aching for it since we broke up. She wanted it!_

Jacob was glad that Paul was still in his human form inside the house, restraining Emily from leaving. Sam's sick thoughts would have driven him mad, but until Jacob stripped him of his Alpha powers, he could not have done anything. Sam had him pinned against the oak, but one of Jacob's forelegs was free. He slashed at the sensitive skin of Sam's belly until Sam howled in pain and released him, stumbling back. A thin trail of blood began to drip to the ground. _Maybe once, she wanted you. But after what you've done to her, she won't even mourn you if I kill you!_

Jacob snapped his jaws at Sam's head. Sam twisted just quickly enough that Jacob couldn't crush his skull, but his left ear was torn as he pulled away. _Motherfucker!_ As he turned, Sam kicked Jacob in the muzzle with his powerful hind legs. Jacob went tumbling back. Before he could regain his footing, Sam landed on him, snarling and snapping his teeth. Jacob curled his hind legs close to his abdomen, keeping Sam a safe distance from his throat, and kicked him away. Both wolves got to their feet, but Jacob was faster. He aimed low, knocking into Sam's legs and making him lose his balance. Sam clawed at Jacob's flank and tripped him with his rear paw. When Jacob fell, he used his skull to ram at Jacob's ribs. _She's mine, do you understand? Leah belongs to me!_

_You don't own her, Sam!_ Jacob yelled as he beat at Sam's skull with his free paw. _You don't own anyone. You're not the master of this pack, not anymore!_ With his claw, he dug into Sam's shoulder until he was free.

Sam jumped on his back before he could stand. _Stay down! Stay down, Jacob! I'll kill you if I have to! You aren't worthy to lead this pack, and you aren't taking Leah from me!_ Sam tried to pin him, tried to sink his teeth into Jacob's spine, but Jacob thrashed underneath him, and he couldn't get a grip. _Submit! I am the Alpha of this pack. Submit!_

Jacob finally stopped twisting, and Sam bit into the back of his neck. But instead of lying flat and conceding the fight, Jacob squared his feet beneath him and pushed up, throwing himself backward and into a trunk. Sam's back struck the tree so hard that the wind was knocked out of him, and several dead branches broke away and rained down onto them. Sam opened his jaws, and Jacob twisted around. _Never! You are done! I'm not going to let you hurt anyone in MY pack ever again!_ Jacob smacked Sam's muzzle as hard as he could, and Sam started to fall. Jacob shoved him away from the tree, rammed into him, and pushed him back until they collided with the side of the cabin. Sam swiped at Jacob's belly with his claws, opening dripping, deep wounds, but Jacob ignored the pain and forced Sam to the ground. Sam snapped his jaws at Jacob's forearm, tearing into the flesh but unable to close around bone, and Jacob retaliated by opening a wound in Sam's muzzle. Sam tried to stand, but the red wolf had the advantage. Jacob clamped down on his throat with his razor-sharp teeth. _Now you will submit to me!_ Jacob screamed. _Surrender, or I'll tear out your throat!_

Sam squirmed, trying to escape, but Jacob's grip was too strong. _Never! You don't have the guts to kill me!_

Jacob bit down harder, cutting off Sam's airway. _A week ago I might even have agreed with you. But now I've killed a few times, and I think I'm getting the hang of it. Don't push me, Sam. Submit!_

Sam started to choke, but he wasn't ready to admit defeat. He made one last attempt to break Jacob's hold on him, wildly thrashing about, but to no avail. His vision started to blur from lack of oxygen, but he could still see. The rest of the pack was gathering behind Jacob.

_Submit!_ Jacob ordered once more.

_Never,_ Sam vowed. _Embry, Seth, Quil, get Jacob off of me!_  
  
They were appalled, and they screamed their refusal just as their feet carried them forward, bound by the power of the Alpha. Embry reached Jacob first. He bit down into Jacob's shoulder, but Jacob wouldn't budge. Seth was horrified to find himself slamming into Jacob's flank. But still, Jacob wouldn't relent. Quil squeezed himself past his brothers and bit down on Jacobs ear, trying to yank him back. But Jacob would not be moved. _Get back!_ he commanded, a new timber rumbling through his voice.

They froze, his command warring with Sam's, but none of them were able to move away.

Sam snarled, _Obey me!_

Jacob counter-ordered, _No! Back away! I am the rightful Alpha, and you must obey me!_ But they were still caught, and none of them moved. Jacob told Sam, _Don't make me hurt you anymore than I already have. Tell them to back off, and you and I can settle this by ourselves. This is between you and me._

But Sam remained silent, stewing in his humiliation and hubris.

When he received no answer, Jacob made his decision. _You're not giving me a choice, are you?_ He leaned forward, pressed all his weight against Sam's throat. The movement caused the muscles of his shoulder to tear where Embry was biting him. Jacob ignored the pain and bit down until blood ran into his mouth.

Sam struggled with all that was left of his strength, but Jacob was too strong. He choked and thrashed, clawing at Jacob trying to free himself, but he only succeeded in injuring himself more as Jacob's sharp teeth tore into his neck. The world started to go dim. _Jacob! Jacob…_

Jacob no longer cared to listen. _It's over, Sam. This is my pack, and I am the only Alpha._ He pressed harder, and Sam’s blood flowed into the muddy puddle beneath him. _I order you to submit!_

Sam’s entire body went limp.

Embry, Quil, and Seth suddenly found themselves able to move, and they backed away as Jacob released Sam's throat.

The black wolf's head thudded to the ground. As Sam involuntarily phased into a bloody, bruised human, Jacob locked eyes with Emily where she stared through the window. Her eyes were huge, and she couldn’t look away. Sam didn’t move, and though Jacob had released him, his lungs drew no breath. Emily didn’t seem to notice. Without blinking, in one smooth motion, Jacob slipped into his human form and rose to his feet. Emily looked terrified. He grinned at her darkly, his teeth covered in Sam's crimson blood. "Emily, who's going to protect you now?"  

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks to Babs81410, and to all the readers and reviewers.


	30. Mercy

Emily stepped back, unable to tolerate the cold fury of Jacob's gaze. She inadvertently bumped into Paul, who asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

She turned around. Looking at him was easier than looking at Jacob, despite the anger radiating off of him. "I… I…" She had no answer. She looked to Leah, hoping that her cousin and oldest friend could reassure her in someway, but Leah was ignoring her.

Leaning on her crutch, Leah hobbled to the doorway. "Is he alive?"

Jacob glanced at Sam's bloody, broken body. "For now." Then Jacob stepped over him as if he was merely stepping over a log, and went into the house. He didn't touch Emily, but he deliberately stood very close, towering over her. Maybe it was because of the wounds torn into his skin, still dripping with blood, or the fact that he didn't seem to even notice his own nudity, or ancient Alpha power now flowing through his veins, but he looked positively feral. He seemed to have grown. His shoulders were even broader, his muscles thick and taut. His breath was hot. "What do you have to say for yourself?" he demanded. When she didn't answer, but only shrank backward, he raked a judgemental eye up and down her body and muttered, "Pathetic." He instructed Paul, "Don't let her out of your sight."

"I don't intend to." He looked past her. Embry blocked the rear door. Quil moved to stand against the front. Unless Emily decided to jump out a window, she had no way out.

"What are we going to do with her?" Quil asked.

Paul suggested, "What Jacob did to Sam, maybe? I think that would be a good start."

Embry and Quil laughed warily. They knew that Paul wasn't really joking. Emily was lucky that Jacob was in charge instead of Paul. From the back hallway, Jacob told them, "We'll take her to the Council Hall after I clean up." The bathroom door closed, and the shower turned on.

Movement outside the house drew Paul's attention. Leah leaned on Seth as she awkwardly tried to kneel in the mud next to Sam’s motionless form. She placed her fingers on his neck, checking his pulse, but the blood flowing from his wound made it difficult, so she checked his femoral artery. Then she pinched his nose shut and closed her mouth over his. Seth scrambled to Sam's other side and asked, "Do you need me to..."

Leah administered two rescue breaths, making his chest rise visibly. When she paused, she said, "He doesn't need compressions. His heart’s beating. Can’t you hear it?" She cursed at the splint on her wrist and managed to tip his chin back, administering two more breaths.

"He's not worth it, Leah!" Paul exclaimed. He couldn't believe she was helping Sam after everything he had done to her.

She ignored his outburst. "Get us some towels!"

Embry looked to Emily, hoping she would retrieve them or point him in the right direction, but she stood still with a glazed look on her face and her mouth hanging open. He bolted to the kitchen and started opening drawers, then came outside with a fistful of dish towels. "Here."

Leah pointed to Sam's bleeding wounds. "Put pressure there and there." Then she knelt over him again, pushing air into his lungs, as Seth and Embry obeyed her.

Paul interjected, "He got what he deserved!" No one answered him, not even Emily. She made no attempt to defend or aid Sam, and she expressed no concern. She lowered herself onto the closest chair and stared at her hands. Paul stood in the doorway watching Leah. “Just let him bleed out. He has it coming!” But she kept pressing her mouth to his, and Paul couldn’t help but wonder. Did she still have feelings for him? Sam insisted that she was still in love with him. Was he right? Why else would she rush to help him, and in such an intimate way?

Leah continued for several more seconds until Sam began to gasp of his own volition, and then she began to examine him more thoroughly. "Those are starting to close up already."

"Is he going to be okay?" Embry asked.

She shrugged. "I think so. A regular human would need to go to the hospital, get a transfusion and a lot of stitches. But these look pretty superficial, at least now they do, and he'd heal up before we got somebody to look at him. And he's breathing on his own now, so..."

Paul gestured for Quil to stand by Emily, and he went outside. He helped Leah off the ground. "He wasn't worth it," he repeated firmly. He lifted her splinted wrist. "Did you hurt yourself doing that? You have to be careful!"

"I'm fine," she reassured him. But her tone was perfunctory, and she didn’t look him in the eye. She was watching Sam. As she allowed Paul to help her inside, she told Seth and Embry, "Hold pressure until he stops bleeding. Then you can take him in."

Paul wanted to shake her. Instead he tipped her chin up so that she had to look at him. She was frowning, her mouth turned downward. "You keep acting like you're invincible, but you're not!"

"I know that. Trust me. The universe likes to remind me." She tapped at her splint, and then she sighed. "Great. Now it's filthy." It was streaked with Sam's blood.

He squeezed the tips of her fingers where they emerged from the splint. "Who cares? It can be replaced. But you can't be replaced, so stop throwing yourself in front of predators. Stay out of the action for a little bit."

She smirked a little, looking at their joined hands. "But the action is exciting."

"Stop being so exciting! Be boring for once, would you? I mean, I get why you scrambled up that damn cliff to go after Victoria. But you could have gotten killed! She fucking bit you, Lee! I had to... I thought you..." He couldn't even finish the thought. Watching her fall from the rocks was one of the worst moments of his life, but when Victoria sank her teeth into Leah’s flesh, Paul thought his own heart would stop. "And then running after Bella Swan, who, fuck, deserves to be live about as much as Sam does, and you get hurt again? Edward could have snapped your neck instead of your arm!" He held his thumb and forefinger millimeters apart. "And we're this close to being rid of that abusive asshole for good, and you bring him back? What the hell? Stop helping people who don't deserve it! Let them rot!"

She shook her head, turning around to look at the man she once loved. He was barely recognizable on any level. "I didn't do it for him," she murmured.

"Then why?" Did she do it for Emily? They had once been as close as sisters. Did she hope one of them could still get something resembling a happy ending? But Emily hadn't gone to check on him. She wasn't helping Seth and Embry slow his bleeding. She wasn't stroking his hair or asking him to wake up. She wasn't doing anything. She wasn't even looking in his direction. Did Leah help him for herself? Did she hope that when he woke up, he would be her Sam again? "Why? He deserves to die for what he was trying to do to you! I mean, I guess I should be grateful if he'll get better, because then I can kick his ass myself, but seriously, what gives?"

Leah reminded him quietly, "I'm a nurse. It's what I do. I'd have done that for any human. And he's one of us, one way or another." Then she pulled him away and lowered her voice so far that Emily couldn't hear her. She whispered, "And if we want him to tell us what he knows, he needs to be alive to do it. But most of all, I did it for Jake. You and I know that what Jake did was justified, but will everyone else see it that way? Charlie and the Cullens are going to come up with a story about where Edward went. I mean, there's no body, no evidence that he's dead. No one's going to arrest Jake and Rose for what happened. But Sam? You think there's some cover story we could come up with to explain his disappearance? You honestly think we could cover up Sam's death, especially when she saw the whole thing?”  She tilted her head at Emily. “She’d spin the whole thing to make Jake look like a criminal. If he died, someone was going to come after Jake. And I'm not letting that happen."

Paul groaned and tipped his forehead so that it touched hers. "Okay, fine. I kind of hate how right you are.”

She grinned up at him and continued whispering, "You’d better get used to that. Plus, it's a good thing for me that he's unconscious. He can't hurt me. And even if he could, I've got you and my brother and the guys watching my back." She looked back at Sam, whose chest rose and fell evenly. The puddle underneath him was no longer accumulating more blood. "Even without Emily screwing the whole thing up, I'm not sure how Jake would have handled it if Sam actually died. He obviously did what he had to do. After I saw the other guys jump on Jake..."

"Sam plays really fucking dirty," Paul agreed. "That's why he doesn't deserve your help. If he'd been winning, you think he would have stopped before he killed Jake?"

"I don't know, but that's not what happened. Jake did what he had to do, but if Sam had actually died? Jake's a good guy. He'd have felt guilty forever. Just imagine it. When he saw Sam's mom or grandma, or hell, even..." She glanced over at Emily, who was struggling unsuccessfully to hear them.

Paul tightened his arms around Leah. He whispered, "She doesn't care about him. Look at her. She only cares what he can do for her, and right now, he's useless to her. What a god damn bitch." He glared at Emily, whose eyes were flicking between the hallway and the front door, which Quil still blocked. "Look. She's trying to figure out how to get out of here." He raised his voice, trying to provoke some reaction, any reaction, out of her. "Coward."

Emily stiffened, but otherwise she didn't react. The back door opened, and Embry entered, sidling sideways and bearing Sam in a fireman's carry. "He mostly stopped bleeding. Where should I put him?" The question was obviously directed at Leah, not Emily.

"Bedroom," she said. She loosened herself from Paul's grip, grabbed her crutch, and followed Embry. Seth trailed behind.

Quil asked Paul, "You got her?" referring to Emily. Paul nodded, and Quil followed them to the rear of the house.

Paul was so angry with Emily that he started to get nauseated just looking at her. She fidgeted now, squeezing her hands into fists and tapping her heel on the floor in a staccato rhythm. The sound drove him crazy. He wanted her to do something stupid so that he'd have an excuse to go after her. He peeked down the hallway. Leah was cleaning Sam's skin free of blood so that she could examine him more closely. His stomach churned at the sight of her hands on him, and he turned away. He believed that she was helping him for Jacob's sake, mostly. He pushed his jealousy down, and he decided to take his frustration out on Emily. She certainly deserved it. "You don't give a shit about him, do you?"

She finally responded. "Of course I do!"

"You care about him so much that instead of being in there with him, you're out here trying to figure out how to run away without getting caught."

"That's ridiculous," she said, but her tone was flat.

"You're a coward," he repeated, "and a shitty liar too."

He tried goading her into answering him again, but all she said was, "You don't know what you're talking about," and turned away from him.

They sat in silence until Jacob appeared in front of her. He grabbed her arm and hauled her up. "Come on." He pointed at the door. "Let's go. We're leaving. You coming?" Jacob asked him.

Paul considered it. He really wanted to be there to learn what consequences Emily would suffer, and to prod for stronger sanctions if needed. But Leah wasn’t going to leave her patient, and he refused to leave her alone with Sam. He shook his head. "I'm going to stick with Leah."

Jacob agreed. "That's a good idea. Don't let her do too much, okay? She thinks she's indestructible, but she isn't. She shouldn't overdo it right now.” He called out, "Embry? Quil? Want to come with?” They appeared shortly. Jacob opened the front door. "Go on."

Emily finally began to realize the situation she had created for herself. Her carefully laid plans were falling apart, the future she envisioned for herself crumbling before her. She tried to stall. "I can't leave Sam.”

"Oh, give it a rest. Like you give a shit about him all of a sudden," Jacob said in a clipped town. "Who do you think you're fooling? Go!" She scuttled out the door at his command, and he told Paul, "If Sam wakes up, he stays in this house unless I say otherwise, got it?"

"Understood."

After they left, Paul went to check on Leah. She stood at the bathroom sink, washing her hands. She said, “The bleeding has stopped, and I mostly cleaned him up. But he hasn't woken up."

"You think I care what happens to that bastard?” He put his arms on her shoulders, rubbing them gently. "I want to know how you're doing."

She held up her splinted wrist. "I kind of made a mess out of these.” Then she finally looked at herself in the mirror, and her jaw dropped open. Sam's blood was smeared across her cheeks, and her clothes and skin were caked with dried mud and blood. “Whoa. I kind of made a mess out of all of me."

Paul teased her, "I always thought it would be hot to watch you mudwrestle, but not with Sam. Although I guess the fact that he was knocked out cold was pretty cool."

She cracked a smile. "Sorry I ruined the fantasy."

He shrugged in an exaggerated fashion. “You can make it up to me. Maybe you can take down Emily in a Jell-O fight or something. Of course, her ugly face would sort of ruin the whole effect, so we can put a bag over her head. But that would give you an unfair advantage, so we have to handicap you by taking away your clothes. You know, leave you all slippery. We can do it in Jake's garage, set up a ring in there and put some tarp on the floor, get a video camera…"

She snickered. "It sounds like you’ve thought of this before.” She bent down to open the cabinet under the sink and pointed. "Can you get that bin out for me?"

Paul retrieved a well-stocked first aid kit. "I'm guessing that you put this here?"

"Yeah. When I got my stuff, it wasn't worth it to try to take everything. I just wanted to get as far as I could, as quickly as I could. If I lost some ace bandages and furniture in the process, that was fine."  
  
He disagreed. "It wasn't fine. None of it was fine.”

She waved a dismissive hand. "It wasn't worth fighting over, either."

He asked, "Well, did you leave any of your clothes behind? I can look for something clean for you to change into, or just raid Emily's closet."

Leah wasn't interested in anything that belonged to Emily. "I'm not touching her stuff. No thank you.”

"Come on," he urged. "At least indulge in some petty revenge with me. What's her favorite thing to wear? Steal it and don't give it back. Show her how much better it looks on you than it does on her. Or spill something on it that can't be cleaned, or accidentally rip the sleeve or something."

“Ugh, no thank you. I don’t want to touch her stuff, or look like her, or smell her on me. Just help me re-wrap these, okay?” She held up a fresh ace bandage.

He took it from her and set it on the counter. “Let’s get you cleaned up first.” He turned the tap, filling the sink with warm water, and helped her take off her shirt. The he used a washcloth to clean her skin. “On second thought,” he teased her, “let’s not find clean clothes. You look pretty good like this. Although this is kind of in the way.” He tugged at her bra strap.

She looked at her reflection. “Um, that didn’t get dirty.”

“So?”

She smacked him with her dirty shirt. “Perv.”

He ogled her blatantly. “Babe, any straight male who gets a glimpse of you would want the same thing. I’m not a perv, I’m normal.” He pulled her bra strap down and kissed the spot he had just uncovered.

Goosebumps broke out over her skin. His light touch was making her tingle. “A, not everyone is trying to sneak a peek, and B, you are so not normal!”

“I just wanna see you naked. Is that so bad? You can keep on the splints. They don’t cover up any important bits.”

She cocked up an eyebrow. “My arm and leg aren’t important bits?”

“Well, your arm, it's second tier,” Paul explained. He grabbed at her breast and crotch and squeezed, causing her to yelp. “These are first tier, along with your face. And your ass."

She used her hard splint to knock his hands away. “Dude! You are so a perv!”

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. And your brain is top tier too, I guess. Your brain is pretty hot. Plus your legs, so you do have a point, I guess."

"You're not helping yourself, you know," she said dryly.

He gave her an unapologetic grin and told her, “I just do what we all want to do. I know what I want, and I’m not afraid to tell you!” He patted her bottom, which was somehow soft, round, and taut all at the same time.

Leah giggled, “Telling involves words, not hands!”

“I am using plenty of words, and I am being very clear.” Very slowly and very loudly, he announced, “I want your tits.”

Her peal of laughter was bright and infectious. “You’re just proving my point!” She laughed, and he wanted her to keep laughing. She was always beautiful, but he couldn’t look away while she was laughing, particularly since he could see her breasts jiggling with the movement.

“And I want your ass.” He slapped it for good measure. “And your tasty little…”

“Shut up! Stop groping my sister!” Seth yelled from the other side of the door. “You’re not alone, you know!” Then the door opened a crack, and he threw in a crumpled pile. “Put something on! Paul may want to see all your junk, but I don’t! Suck it up and wear some of Emily’s clothes.”

Leah apologized and accepted it. “Sorry!” But she obviously wasn't.

Paul didn’t speak again, at least not to say anything lewd, but he kept grabbing, rubbing, and poking at his favorite parts of her as he helped her change clothes and exchange the soiled wraps for fresh ones. She just giggled and let him. They didn’t emerge from the bathroom right away. Instead he trapped her and kissed her. He started laughing during one of the kisses, turning it into an inadvertent raspberry. The snorting, squealing sound she made in response was so funny that he forgot where they were. Paul realized that he had slept with plenty of girls, but he had never blown raspberries on any of them, and he was glad he was sharing this experience with her and not some other meaningless girl. It was so much fun that he did it again and again, while Seth turned the television on loudly in the other room. Eventually yanked him up and brought his lips to hers. When Paul started moaning, Seth pounded on the door until they agreed to come out and behave themselves.

While they waited, Leah decided to look more closely at Alice’s phone. Her eyes bugged out at the first email. “Dear lord. What could she possibly do with these?”

Seth and Paul crowded behind her to look over her shoulder. “What is it? What did she do?”

“Bought over ten thousand dollars worth of clothes!” Leah exclaimed.

They sat down, rolling their eyes. “I thought you found something interesting!” Seth huffed.

“This is interesting!” She kept scrolling. “She spent exorbitant amounts of money! Who needs all this stuff? Whoa. But here’s where all the cash came from. She was a day trader.” Dozens of brokerage statements showed transactions in the millions.

“Guess that’s where their money comes from. Nice to be psychic, I guess.” Paul said, “Who cares about that, though? Are there any more voicemails?"

Unfortunately, she had deleted everything except Emily’s final warning. Her email was more revealing. Amidst a laundry list of ads, receipts from internet orders of high end boutiques, gossipy little notes and jokes between her and members of her family, and transactions from brokerage accounts, were several emails from Emily. The account was unfamiliar to all of them, but it came as no surprise that she wouldn’t use her normal address.

Every email incriminated Emily more. They revealed that the Cullens were paying her handsomely for her services. Edward and Jasper were copied on most of them, but no other members of the coven. In addition to handing over patrol schedules and routes, a list of the Quileute elders and discussions on each person, and detailed descriptions of the community, were complaints about life on the reservation and childish rants about pack members, their friends, and their families. Many were directed at Jacob. She bemoaned how immature he was, how foolish, how blind. She was very concerned about the threat he posed to Sam’s position. Recent messages speculated about ways to get rid of him permanently. Moreover, she had a lot to say about Sam. She loved the power she had over him, and she loved that she was able to tear his attention so completely from Leah, of whom she was quite clearly jealous. But she hated him, too. She hated what he did to her, hated that he trapped her in La Push, and hated that he turned her into a housewife at the beck and call of a crowd of unruly teenagers. Jasper asked her why she didn’t just leave. She alluded to her fear of being judged by her appearance. At least in La Push, people were used to the way she looked, and being the Alpha’s imprint afforded her a status she wasn’t sure she could replicate in any other place. But more than being angry and bitter, Emily was afraid. Sam had nearly killed her during their worst argument. What would he do if he found out she was going to leave him? At least now, she had learned how to deal with him. Better to have him safely under her thumb than volatile and lashing out at her.

Not all the correspondence betrayed the pack. Leah, Seth, and Paul learned more about Victoria and Riley in ten minutes than they had in the previous ten months. Just as Rosalie had determined, it was Jasper, not Victoria, who had turned Riley. But unlike Carlisle’s claim, Edward had not stopped Jasper from killing him. Victoria had found them and saved Riley. Apparently, he was the first human Jasper had turned. Jasper had murdered many, but never had the self-control to stop before they died, and he was curious about his progeny. Emily supplied any information she gathered. Between Alice’s psychic powers, Edward’s mind-reading, and Emily’s information, the Cullens were able to fully protect themselves.

“She’s a triple agent,” Seth remarked. “But what I don’t get is why the Cullens bothered paying her for this information. Edward could read minds, right? So he could just take this information from her brain, or from any of us.”

“But how often was he close enough to get it?” Leah pointed out. “Yeah, I’m sure we passed close enough to him sometimes, but even if he was staking out the edge of the patrol border to wait for us, he was only going to get whatever we were thinking about at that moment. Rose said he couldn’t dig through people’s minds like a filing cabinet. He got steam of consciousness randomness. Plus, none of us knew all this stuff about Victoria and Riley. And it sounds like they were smart enough to mostly stay out of Edward’s range. He could only get that information from Emily, and she stayed on the Rez most of the time, where he couldn't hear her thinking."

Paul was as amazed as he was infuriated. “She played all of us.”

“And if Jake hadn’t answered Alice’s phone, would we ever have figured it out?” Seth wondered.

Grudgingly, Leah admitted, “I hate her guts more now than I ever did, which is saying something, but I have to say, I’m kind of impressed. There were a few times today when I wondered how I’d missed who she really was, when you could see on her face just how pissed she was, but she just wasn’t bothering to hide it. Really, she’s a good actress. Maybe she missed her calling. She always wanted to get off the rez, and she had this idea that her art would take her places. But maybe she should have been an actress instead.”

Paul grunted. “With her looks? Yeah, right.”

“She used to be pretty. If Sam hadn’t hurt her, I wonder if she would have walked away like it sounds like she wanted to,” Leah speculated.

Paul stated, “So this really is all his fault, huh? That asshole.”

“Both of them, obviously,” Leah sighed.

“All of them. Look.” Paul pointed at another email. Sick of reading about Emily’s betrayals, he was reading a message between Edward and Alice. “They were all playing each other.”

This correspondence was more cryptic. The siblings had less need to write to one another; if they were physically close enough, Alice only had to think, and Edward understood. Most of their discussions would have happened in person. But Edward must have needed to tell Alice something while they were apart.

_Bella’s sleeping now, so I can talk. I tried to call. Why aren’t you picking up your phone? Can’t you and Jasper keep your hands off each other long enough to talk to me?_

_They got pretty close tonight, but not close enough. Certainly not close enough for Bella to even realize they’re here. They aren’t holding up their end of the bargain. She won’t be scared unless they get closer, make contact, and I don’t know what they’re waiting for. It could be because of the wolves, but I don’t think so. Emily gave them the patrol schedule just like she was supposed to, and there’s a good hour when no one would have noticed they were here. I think they’re deliberately staying just outside my range so I can’t figure out what they’re up to, which makes me wonder what they’re thinking about._

_They’re making me nervous, they’re not even doing what we paid them for. Can you look again, see if there’s any way for us to use them? If not, what would happen if we eliminated them? I’m hoping you have something for me by the time I get home._

“He must be talking about Riley and Victoria,” Seth said. “Don’t you think? We really never found any other scents but theirs, so it’s probably not some other leeches we don’t know about.”

Leah shook her head. “No. The date is too early. Riley hadn’t been turned yet.”

“Maybe it’s Victoria and the one who tried to kill Bella,” Paul guessed. “She had a mate before Riley, right?”

“Could be. What else is in there?” Seth asked.

Leah opened another folder. “There’s a lot of stuff in here from Edward. This is when they were away from Forks. Maybe they split up for a while?” Her eyes widened. “Oh wow, this is juicy. Edward didn’t tell Rosalie this. Didn’t he tell Bella he’d never been with anybody? He told her he’d waited for her, never been with any other woman. That’s what Rosalie said.”

Paul laughed out loud. “Like a hundred-year-old virgin?”

“He was saving himself for marriage, or so Bella said. For their wedding. Except he was a liar.” The corner of Leah’s mouth quirked up in amusement, but after a little more scrolling, her face fell. “Oh, that’s… Oh, how awful.”

Paul tried to keep up as her finger flicked across the screen. “Wow. So I guess he was upset after they all took off. Looks like he slept with a few women to try to distract himself from missing Bella.”

Seth’s head snapped up. “Vampire women or human women?”

Leah’s expression gave him the answer before Paul said, “The human women didn’t survive. Damn. I didn’t think I could be happier that Jake killed that monster.”

“Wow.” Leah frowned at the phone. “He really didn’t want Alice to tell Carlisle what he did. I don’t think the rest of them knew, which makes sense, because otherwise Rosalie would have hunted him down.”

Paul pointed again. “Wait, go back. Look at that one. It’s a good thing she never deleted any emails.”

“What is it?” Seth prompted.

“It’s from when he was in Italy,” Paul explained.

After a minute, while Seth waited impatiently, Leah asked, “Shit. Should I forward this to Bella?”

Seth was still in the dark. He couldn’t see past his sister’s and Paul’s heads. “What is it?”

“Edward wasn’t trying to kill himself when he went to Italy,” Paul explained. “He was trying to switch sides!”

Leah explained, “He was turning himself in to the Volturi. They wanted his mind reading power. He told Alice that if he couldn’t have Bella, he was going to leave the family. He liked the taste of the human women he killed. He tried going without for a while, probably long enough to let his eyes clear, but he missed it too much. He knew the Volturi would let him have whatever he wanted. There’s other emails with Jasper in here where Alice is trying to figure out what to do about Edward. She wanted him to come back to the family, and he wouldn’t believe her when she said she could still see visions of Bella as a vampire, that she would join them. It looks like that whole story she came up with, when she dragged Bella out of the country to ‘save’ Edward…” She put her fingers up in air quotes. “It was all a set up. Edward wasn’t trying to get killed, he was turning himself in. She sent Bella in to get him back. But she thought that if Bella knew Edward was willing to kill humans, she wouldn’t want him anymore. Looks like it was Jasper’s idea to tell her that Edward was trying to commit suicide. Alice had a vision. She saw that Bella would try to save him.”

“This is ridiculous,” Paul said. “I don’t get it. Why didn’t they just bite her and get it over with? Why all the elaborate scheming? Why trick her into going to Italy when they could have just changed her in the first place? It makes no sense.”

Leah admitted that he had a point. “I don’t know. I’ll keep looking.”

They were distracted by the sound of groaning from the other room. Sam mumbled incoherently, but two names were clear. He was asking for Leah and Emily. Leah moved toward the bedroom, but Paul stopped her. Sam was dangerous, injured or not. He went in first. Sam was blinking blearily and putting his hand to his own throat, trying to figure out what had happened to him. He seemed confused by the bandages taped to his skin. He croaked, "Lee Lee, is that you?" His throat was parched.

Paul stepped forward into his line of sight. "Nope."

Leah appeared in the doorway. "It's both of us. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Sam answered. He opened and closed his eyes until she came into focus, and he started at her splinted limbs. “But I probably shouldn't complain. Wolf healing, and all. I should be dead, shouldn’t I? How about you?"

Before she could answer, Paul snapped, "Don't pretend like you care. You don't give a fuck, and we know it."

“Of course I do!” Sam scowled and tried to sit up.

Leah gently but firmly pushed him back down. She was sick of fighting. She ignored both of them and asked Paul, “Can you get a glass of water? Put a straw in it. They’re in the middle drawer just to the right of the sink.” He scowled but followed her instructions, and she turned her attention to Sam, but she didn’t meet his eyes. She smoothed her features into a professional mask and ignored the fact that the last time she sat in this bed with him, they were engaged. "Let me take a look under your bandages." They were soaked through with blood, but when she pulled them back, she realized that the lacerations had already closed. "You don't need these anymore." She tossed the soiled gauze into the trashcan. Paul handed her the glass of water, folded his arms over his chest, and glared down at Sam. She helped him sit up and drink.

“Where is everyone?” Sam asked in between sips.

Paul said, “Deciding what to do your sorry ass, and that bitch of an imprint. I’m advocating for corporal punishment for the both of you, so you’re lucky I’m not in charge.”

Sam didn’t say anything. He just stared at Leah, who deliberately looked away from him. It made her uncomfortable, but she tried not to show it. She didn’t want him to affect her in any way, positively or negatively, and she hoped that by pretending long enough, it would eventually be true.

The phone rang, and Paul left to answer it, reluctantly leaving them alone. “Pretty sure I should be helping you, not the other way around,” Sam said. His tone was soft, startling Leah into looking at him. The expression on his face was tentative and unsure. His features were soft, and he looked startlingly like the old Sam. Her Sam.

She cleared her throat and broke his gaze, dropping her eyes to the sheets. But he was naked under the thin cover, and that didn’t make her any more comfortable. She focused on the gauze in the trash can and said shortly, “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, and a lot of that is because of me, isn’t it?”

She didn’t answer him. Instead she tried to listen to Paul’s phone conversation, but Sam’s hand on her cast pulled her attention away. She yanked backward, accidentally spilling water in his lap. “Oh shoot, sorry,” she said automatically. She grabbed tissues off the nightstand and dabbed them against his skin.

“It’s fine. It’s nothing.” He placed his hand on her healthy wrist. “It’s just water.”

She stood up, breaking his hold and putting distance between them. In a professional tone, she instructed him, “You should lie down. Get some rest. You lost a lot of blood today.”

“You’re worse off than I am, now,” he pointed out. Instead of lying down, he leaned forward. “Are you in pain?”

In a clipped tone, she said, “I’m fine.”

He disagreed with her, but he didn’t sound angry, just sad. “No, Lee Lee. You’re not.”

“Doesn’t matter.” She grabbed her crutch and hobbled to the opposite side of the room.

“Sure it does.”

She changed the subject, frowning at him. He had flustered her for a second, but she had questions, and she wanted answers. “What was your part in this, Sam?”

“My part?”

She rolled her eyes. “Besides trying to murder Jake just now. When did you decided you wanted him out of the way so bad that you’d stoop to conspiring with vampires to kill him?”

His eyes widened, and his eyebrows rose high into his forehead. “Conspiring with vampires? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb.” She responded with conviction, but she wasn’t sure what his involvement was. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“I really don’t,” he insisted.

“We found Emily’s emails,” she told him. “It’s all in there. So there’s no point in lying,” she bluffed. Though damning to Emily, nothing in Alice’s emails implicated him.

“I’m not lying. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Yeah, I’m pissed at Jake. He’s not good for the pack, and he’s not good for the tribe. But I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’d like to know what’s going on.” He tried to speak sternly, but the deep undertone of the Alpha was gone from his voice.

Paul appeared in the doorway. “So does everyone else. Put some clothes on. We’re leaving.”

“Where?” Sam asked.

Paul didn’t answer. While Sam got dressed, Paul explained to Leah that they needed to go to the Council Hall. Billy had been interrogating Emily, but she wasn’t telling them anything. Paul tried to tell Jacob what they had found on Alice’s phone, but the convoluted story was too hard to explain. They would confront her with the evidence in person.

Paul drove Sam’s pickup. Leah sat in the seat next to him, and Sam and Seth rode in the bed of the truck. Leah kept reading Alice’s email, although a minute into the ride, she was distracted by a crunching sound. It wasn’t the door. Seth had punched Sam in the nose, breaking it. Sam didn’t even try to retaliate. Perhaps his defeat at Jacob’s hand had doused the fire inside him. He just snapped his nose back into place and waited. He glared daggers at Paul when the younger man lifted Leah out of the cab, and Paul glared right back at him. But they were distracted by the sound of Billy's voice from inside the council hall.

The chief had been a fixture in their lives since they were small. To all of them, he was basically family. He was always ready to tell a joke or pass along words of wisdom, regardless of the situation. He was the keeper of the tribe’s histories, and later, the person who would reveal all its secrets. They had spoken with him hundreds, thousands of times. And none of them had ever heard him so angry. "… be ashamed of yourself! You're damn lucky that my son came home in one piece. If he hadn't, it wouldn't have mattered that I'm in this chair, it wouldn't have mattered that no court could have brought you to trial, I would have taken justice into my own hands. And whether the pack decided to help me or not, no one would ever have found a trace of your body. What do you have to say for yourself?" he demanded.

But whatever Emily’s answer, she remained silent. As they entered the building, they saw that she wasn't even looking at Billy, let alone answering him. She was seated in a folding chair facing a long conference table. Jacob stood behind her, using his intimidating physical size to make it clear that she wasn't going anywhere. Quil and Embry guarded the door to make sure that no unexpected visitors overheard their conversation. Billy sat on the other side of the table, his clenched fists shaking against the wood. And though Billy was restricted to his wheelchair, he somehow seemed to take up an enormous space in the large, open room. Beside him, Old Quill appeared elderly and frail.

Emily said nothing. She made eye contact with no one, and she did not respond to Billy's demand. But when she heard the door close, she turned to look. She blanched when she saw Sam standing there. Her head quickly twisted away. She didn't want to face him.

Jacob, on the other hand, was eager to interrogate him. He instructed Embry, "Watch her,” and he stepped toward Sam and pushed him back out the door.

Paul asked, "What did she say?"

"Nothing. Literally nothing. I can't make her talk, but he is a different story."

Leah told him, "It won't matter whether she says anything or not. All we need to know about her is right here." She held the phone in the air. "I already forwarded most of the important emails, just in case she manages to get a hold of it."

“Good.” Jacob marched Sam into the cover of the woods while Leah went inside to tell Billy what she had found.

“Go with Jake,” she urged Seth.

Paul offered, “I’ll stay here.”

Seth nodded and jogged out the door. Embry and Quil followed them. They were furious that Sam had tried to turn them against Jacob, and they wanted answers from him. Leah walked past Emily, unlocked the phone, and placed it on the table. “You won’t get anything out her except excuses and lies, so if she tries to talk, don’t listen. Everything’s here. It proves everything Jacob said. She was working with the Cullens and with Victoria and Riley. The Cullens were paying her off, and she wasn’t just giving them information about us. She was telling the Cullens information about Victoria, too.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Billy shook his head in disappointment. “Is there anything else? Does it say if Sam was in on it?”

Paul answered, “No, but Jake will find out soon enough. There’s a lot of other interesting information in here, though. We haven’t gotten through all of it, either.”

“Tell me,” Billy urged.

Leah explained, “Jasper was the one who turned Riley. It’s why they ran off so suddenly. Victoria actually stopped him from killing him. I guess she wanted a new pet?”

“Or a new ally against the Cullens,” Billy speculated.

“That makes sense,” Leah agreed. “And there’s a message from Edward in there. He’s talking about how they didn’t keep their end of the bargain.”

“They?” Billy asked, noticing that Emily’s attention was now focused on Leah. She looked surprised. Apparently the traitor wasn’t used to being in the dark. ”And what bargain?”

“We’re not sure, but we think they had some kind of deal with Victoria. We just don’t know what it was. It had something to do with Bella, though,” Paul said.

Billy rolled his eyes and muttered, “Of course it did. That girl… We’re going to be cleaning up her messes forever, aren’t we? Her father said that if we don’t protect her, some vampire army is going to come to kill her.”

Leah grinned. She was finally able to give some good news. “Yeah, that’s totally not true. It was a lie they told Bella. In her email, Alice kept referring to visions she had. In some of them, Bella was human and not a part of their lives at all. They didn’t want that. In others, she was a vampire, but sometimes, she seemed to be their enemy, not one of them. Edward and Jasper thought they should just bite her and keep her. But Alice saw that if they turned her violently, like Riley, they’d create an enemy. They wanted her to want it, so they manipulated the situation.”

“They made her think she didn’t have a choice?” Billy understood.

“Yeah, but the Volturi, the vampire army, they don’t care. I guess they keep some humans as pets, and they thought Bella was Edward’s pet."

Billy concluded, “So she’s safe. Charlie’s safe.”

“As long as she keeps her mouth shut.” Leah didn’t care about Bella Swan, but she didn’t want her to get killed either. More importantly, she didn’t want Charlie to get hurt because of his daughter’s bad decisions, and she didn’t want the Volturi descending on Washington. They had all been through enough already. “No one’s coming for them.”

“At last. Some good news.” Billy turned to Old Quil with a smile, but as soon as he realized who he was looking at, he began to scowl. He turned his attention outside, but he couldn’t see Jacob and Sam through the window. “Is everything okay out there?”

Paul could see them through the trees. “Look like it. They're all phased, and they're just staring at each other. Or Jake's staring Sam down. Sam has his belly on the ground and his tail between his legs.”

Proudly, Billy said, “That’s my boy.” The corner of his mouth turned up. He couldn’t resist a dig at Emily. “The true Alpha. Thank goodness he didn’t imprint on you. What an absolute nightmare you are. But I have to give you credit. You do know how to play the game, don’t you? How much did they give you?”

For a split second, a small smile touched Emily’s mouth, but as soon as it appeared, it was gone.

"Too bad no amount of money will fix her," Paul sneered at her. "Now we all know what a monster she really is."

Billy shook his head. "What were the spirits thinking when they made Sam imprint on you?"

"They must have been punishing him for something," Paul told her, "Because you're nothing but a curse. You know that's the only reason he's ever looked twice at you. How does it feel knowing that the only reason he's with you is because he got bodysnatched and turned into your slave?"

The fire in Emily's eyes told him that he had finally found a sore spot. She finally spoke. "Say what you want, but he's mine, not hers!" She pointed at Leah. "Because as fucked up as you think I am, I'm still better than she is!"

"You're delusional!" Paul laughed. "Leah's better than you in literally every single way. Fuck, even Sam, your pathetic imprint, thinks so."

She denied it. "He can't think that. It's not possible."

Smugly, Paul said, "You just wait. Jake's prying Sam's brain open right now. Who knows what skeletons are going to fall out of those closets? We're going to find out everything he knows." Emily said nothing, and he wondered if she really had withheld information from Sam so that no one else could access it. It didn't matter. He could still hit her where it hurt. "We'll ask him how he really feels about you under all the imprinting bullshit. I can't wait to hear what he says."

She rolled her eyes. "He thinks we're perfect together, so go ahead."

He reminded her, "You think he still believes that after what you said about him earlier? For fuck's sake, he heard every word you said."

She claimed, "It doesn't matter what I said or what he heard. You keep acting like he has a choice in the matter. He doesn't. If I fuck another man in front of him, and then I tell him he likes it, he'll like it. So go ahead, ask him what he thinks of me. I'm sure Leah will enjoy hearing about how much better I am than she is."

Paul hated Sam, but he was beginning to hate Emily even more. Sam had once been a good man, but she had destroyed him. She had twisted him into something dark and terrible, and in her arrogance, she thought she was infallible. "Then how come he wants Leah and not you?"

"That's ridiculous," Emily scoffed. "He dropped her at the second he saw me."

Paul snarled, "He had a lobotomy the second he saw you. If it weren't for imprinting, you'd still be Leah's boring, invisible cousin. You'd be an afterthought at best. How does it feel knowing that you're second-best? He chose Leah, and he's only with you because imprinting forced him to be. He never would have picked you, and you know it."

Emily visibly stiffened. She had always felt inferior, had always felt overshadowed by her brilliant, charming, and beautiful best friend. Their family always talked about how well Leah was doing. Even her own mother wouldn't stop gushing about Leah's accomplishments. None of them recognized how conceited she was. Leah had flaunted her perfect face, perfect body, perfect life, and perfect fiancé in front of Emily for years. And while Sam didn’t seem to realize Emily existed, Emily's own boyfriends had always gotten flustered and flirtatious when they met Leah. Emily had burned with jealousy for years, and Sam's imprint had finally given her a way to get even. "Sam loves me more than he ever loved Leah. I'm everything to him!"

Paul resisted the urge to smack the bitter, ugly smirk off her face. He despised what Sam had done to Leah, but he wouldn't hesitate to use it as a weapon against Emily. He looked to Leah, wondering how much he could say. He didn’t know if she was comfortable revealing what Sam had tried to do. If he wasn’t allowed to physically assault Emily, he knew he could still hurt her. Leah made a small shrug with her shoulders, and he took it as permission. He turned back to Emily. "You're a fucking incubator, and nothing more. Do you know what he really wants? To be with Leah, not just now, but forever. Not that he's going to get that chance, not now."

Emily's eyes snapped up toward Leah, wondering what silent message had passed between her and Paul. Leah said nothing. Emily demanded to know, "What the hell are you talking about? We're engaged. He dumped her sorry ass an hour after he saw me, and he asked me to marry him before she even picked up her stuff from this house! He hardly remembers her. The only reason she's anything more than a bad memory is because she phased."

Paul jabbed an angry finger in Emily’s face. "That's what you think! You think you know everything about Sam? You don't. You're wrong. You've both been lying to each other. He tells you what you want to hear because the imprint won't let him do otherwise, but you know what? He's just waiting for you to die!"

"That's insane!" she yelled. "He loves me!"

"You're a pathetic, ugly, scheming bitch. Why the fuck would he want you? You know what his actual plan was? He wasn't going to raise a family with you, grow old with you. Yeah, he was going to knock you up, but then he was going to wait for your sorry ass to die while he kept phasing. He was a power-hungry prick, just like you, and he wanted all the packs under him forever.”

Old Quil finally broke his silence to exclaim in surprise, “Is that true? He wanted to live forever?”

Paul nodded. “Yeah. He was going to keep phasing, stay young, while this ugly bitch got older and older. You'd look like his grandmother, and you think he was going to love you then? Of course not! You look bad enough now. Hell, maybe some wrinkles would even out your fucked-up face some. He was going to keep Leah as his mistress, make her keep phasing, and then outlive you, and order her to stay with him. Yeah, he gave in to the imprint because he had to. But he wasn't going to stay with you, you idiot. She's the one he really wanted, not you, because she’s amazing, and even imprinting can’t make you look better than her. He told Leah..."

Emily interrupted, "She's lying! She'd say anything to make me look bad! She's just jealous, and she made up that insane story!"

Paul shook his head and leaned over her. "Sorry, no. She didn't tell us any of this, because he wiped her damn memory! But there was a witness who overheard the whole thing, someone that Sam couldn't get to."

"Who?" she demanded. "They're lying! They’re fucking lying!"

Paul ignored her question and pointed outside. "It doesn't even matter. Jake's pulling the memory out of Sam's brain as we speak. He'll get everything out of him, and everyone will know what Sam really thinks of you. You're not his soulmate, you're the bitch who ruined his life and nearly got him killed."

Emily was indignant. She screeched, "I ruined his life?" She pointed at her ruined face. "Look at what he did to me! You've got it backwards. If anyone ruined anyone's life, he ruined mine!"

Behind Emily, the door swung open. Jacob stepped inside, Sam trailing behind him, his head hung low and his shoulders slumped. She didn’t notice them and jumped when Jacob spoke. "If that's how you feel, why are you still here? Why did you stay? He's stuck with you, but only because you accepted the imprint. If that's how you feel about him, why the hell did you stay with him? You've always had the power to reject to the imprint. It was always your choice. You could have walked away."

Furious tears welled up in her eyes, and she aimed her finger at Sam. Her arm was shaking. "Because he owes me! He ruined my life, and he had to make up for it! Besides, where else could I go? Who else was going to have me looking like this?"

Paul laughed. "She's right. No man in his right mind could ever want her. Sam, you made her as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside."

Jacob shook his head in contempt. "That's what this has been the whole time, hasn't it? You getting your revenge on him, and taking down whomever else you could on your way? So what about Leah, huh? Did you hurt her on purpose? I'll bet you imagined that she did something to you when you were kids or something. Is that it?"

Paul guessed astutely, "Nah. I'll bet she can't even fake something Leah did to her. She stole her fiancé out of nothing but spite and jealousy. Leah has just always been better than her in every way, and she couldn't wait to take something from her just to prove that she could."

Emily had no reply, because Paul was right. Her face turned red as angry tears ran down the deep divots in her cheeks.

Sam’s eyes flicked to his imprint, but settled on Leah. Her eyes met his, and the sadness in them held her fast. Jacob had just stripped him bare, and for the first time in months, he could see what he had become. He was utterly ashamed, and he instinctively sought out the one person who had never let him down. Maybe it was simply a habit, maybe it was just a surprise, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away.

Emily started to hyperventilate as she watched them. He was looking at his childhood sweetheart as if he was a parched man in a desert, and she was an oasis. How could this be happening to her again? Sam was her imprint, not Leah’s. She rose, strode up to him, and slapped him hard across the face. “How dare you! You’ve ruined everything, do you understand? Everything! I’ll never forgive you!” Sam barely felt her strike, but her words were a blow. He had displeased his imprint, and he dropped to his knees under the weight of her anger. Then Emily wheeled on Leah. “And you! I’m sick and tired of you! Always acting like you’re better than everyone else. Always acting like you’re better than me. Well, you’re not! You’re nothing!”

She stepped forward, but Jacob grabbed her from behind before she could reach Leah. “Shut it! No one cares what you think, do you understand?” He turned to his father. “What do you want me to do with her, with them? Because none of us can stand to be in the same room with either of them anymore. She’s going to get hurt as badly as he was if she can’t shut her mouth.”

“What did you find out?” Billy needed to know.

“Not much,” Jacob admitted. “He should have seen the signs, but he didn’t. He didn’t know about any of the vamps, but he was being willfully blind.”

“He attacked you,” Billy pointed out. "He tried to kill you."

Jacob scowled. “And I nearly killed him for it. And considering what he had planned for Leah, I probably should have. It was just like Rosalie told us. He wanted to be Alpha of all the packs, forever, and trap Leah with him.”

Billy nodded. Nothing could surprise him anymore. “And now?”

Jacob could feel Emily shaking with anger. He didn't need to see her face to know that it was twisted into an ugly grimace. Then he looked down at Sam, who still on the floor. He looked like he was trying to shrink in on himself, trying to disappear. "She's full of nothing but hate. But he's a shell. He's empty. He used to be a man, but now he's nothing. Nothing at all."  
  
Billy heaved a deep sigh. "Sam, once there was something good in you. Something noble. But look at you now. Pathetic. You're under house arrest until my son says otherwise, do you understand?"  
  
Jacob intoned the order, ensuring that Sam could not disobey, and Embry escorted him away. Then Billy turned his judgment on Emily. His voice was cold and hard. "We welcomed you. We took you in as one of our own. We treated you with respect to that you never earned. We trusted that the spirits had sent you to us, and so we trusted you. That was our mistake. My mistake. You weren't sent to support the pack, you were sent as a challenge. You were a test, and we failed. We trusted you. We will not make that mistake again. I would love nothing more than to send you to prison for the crimes you committed, but you're lucky. You know as well as I do that we can't put you on trial. So I'll settle for never seeing your face ever again. Seth and Quil are going to escort you directly to the border. Where you go from there, well, I simply don't care. If you ever step one foot onto our land again, in one year or in fifty, you will be arrested for trespassing."  
  
Emily tried not to smile. It was the best possible outcome. Now that her position as the Alpha’s mate was stripped from her, there was nothing left for her here but humiliation. She refused to live in Sam's ramshackle little cabin while being belittled and despised by the tribe. She was happy to leave. She turned as gracefully as she could, smoothing her slacks with her hands. "I'll just get my things and go, then."  
  
"No, you will not," Billy roared. "There is no one to rescue you now, do you understand? No one left for you to manipulate or trick. You are alone. You will leave before I change my mind, before I wipe all traces of you from the planet. You will leave now, or you will not leave at all. Never. Do you understand?"

Emily was shocked at his blatant threat, and she finally realized the danger she was in. "Y-yes."

He pointed at the door. "Then get out of my sight!"

Emily scurried away, Seth and Quil following at Jacob's direction.

Paul stepped outside to watch her go, fuming. "Good riddance."

"Do you think she's really going to stay away?" Leah asked.

"Shit. I don't know. I kind of hope she tries to sneak back just so she can get in trouble. I mean, that's it? Really? She tried to kill Jake, and his dad just tells her to go away? Damn it!"

Leah pointed out, "I don't see what other choice he had. What else could he do?"

"Strangle the bitch! I would have happily done it. At this point, any of us would have."

"Couldn't get away with that, though."

Paul scowled as Old Quil squeezed through the door and walked slowly away. They said nothing to each other. He had rendered himself meaningless, and he didn't warrant a goodbye. Paul continued, "We could have at least, I don't know, broken her kneecaps or cut up the other side of her face, or something."

"Tempting," she laughed. "That's okay. Karma will probably get her in the end. Or she'll get too greedy, maybe. The next people she screws over probably won't be so lenient. I mean, she double crossed vampires!"

"I know. But Edward's dead, and so's Victoria. But she just walks away! I mean, I get it, but I hate that she doesn't even really get a slap on the wrist. She basically has a big pile of Cullen blood money to keep her greedy little heart warm at night. Fuck!" He kicked a trash can in frustration.

Leah shrugged. "Whatever. She's out of my life, which makes me pretty happy."

She actually did look quite pleased, and Paul couldn't maintain the same level of anger while looking at her smile. "Damn it. I want to be pissed off, and you're screwing it up. Stop looking like that."

She was confused. "Like what?"

"So hot and cute and distracting and... unstable."

"Unstable?"

"Mm hmm." He wrapped her in his arms and swayed back and forth. The motion made her lose her balance, hampered as she was by her splinted leg. She began to giggle as he deliberately tipped her back and forth, pretending to nearly drop her again and again.

She pulled him down and kissed him. "Take me home, Paul."

"Good idea. Let's just say bye to Jake and Billy."

She glanced up at him as he helped her inside. "Maybe we can go back to your place? My mom is driving me kind of crazy."

He grinned. Maybe he could convince her not to leave. He had rashly asked her to move in, and though their plans had gotten sidetracked, he still wanted her to. "Yeah. Yeah."

Jacob was bouncing on the balls of his feet, and his grin reminded Leah that he was still a boy despite his appearance. "Guys, you gotta hear this."

Billy was just hanging up the phone. They had been so distracted by each other that they didn't realize he had spoken with someone other than Jacob. His smile as infectious as his son's. "Good news. Your friend Rosalie was very helpful. Apparently the Cullens keep a lawyer on retainer. He's available to them at all times, because they are his only clients. And he does all kinds of things for them, legal and otherwise. He set up all the payments to Emily, and Victoria and James as well."

"Yeah?" Paul asked. "I'll bet he's got all kinds of dirt on them. But is he willing to talk? I mean, if they're his only clients, and he takes care of all this shady stuff for them, he's gotta know how to keep his mouth shut."

"His only obligations are to the clients who can still pay him. That's where his loyalty lies. And Rosalie is paying him handsomely to drain Emily's accounts," Billy declared. "All of them, even the one she had before she moved here."

Jacob looked positively gleeful. "She thought she won. She thought she got away with it, no consequences, no nothing. But she's wrong. We're leaving her with nothing. Nothing except the clothes on her back."

Paul couldn't help but laugh. "Don’t forget Sam's first gift to her, those ugly fucking scars! She'll never get rid of those!"

 

 


	31. Hope

Paul didn't know how to ask Leah to move in with him again, so he didn't. Instead, he simply drove toward his house and hoped she wouldn’t leave. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel and wondered if she could sense his nervousness. Now that no real threats remained, he didn't quite know what to do. Maybe he could distract her with small talk. "I kind of think she got off easy. Billy should've tossed her ass in jail."

"I know, but that requires a trial, and that's so public. How many people would have found out about us and the vamps during a trial? Even if he closed it to just the council, there's no way that the rest of the Rez wouldn't figure out what was going on. It would generate way too many questions. Plus she'd still be here, spewing her poison, even if it was from a locked cell. It's better that she's gone."

“Do you think we'll see her again?"

Leah sighed, "Unfortunately. She’s going to throw a bitch fit when she realizes her money is gone."

"She can bitch all she wants, so long as she never sees a dime of that dirty money. How long do you think it's going to take her to figure out?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I doubt it occurred to her that it could vanish. It could take a while if she’s just charging things to her credit card, so maybe she won't notice until her check bounces when she goes to pay the bill. Or she'll figure it out when she goes to withdraw some cash and there’s nothing there."

He grinned. "I wish I could be there to see the look on her face when she figures it out. It would be hysterical."

"I don't. I honestly hope I never see her again, but I sort of doubt I'll be so lucky. I mean, we are family. What about Sam? House arrest can't last forever. What do you think will happen with him?"

Paul agreed. “Yeah. I guess that was just a place to stick him until they figure out what to do with him.”

“He was quiet. Really weirdly quiet.”

Leah looked out the window, and Paul wished she hadn’t brought up Sam. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what she was thinking about or not. “I’m surprised he didn't fight to stay with her. Even after all the shit she said about him, I thought he’d still be following her around like a beaten dog, you know, frightened and pathetic but still wanting its master’s love.”

She mused, “He’s… different. I could see it or feel it or something. Maybe it’s because Jake’s Alpha now, and that’s out of him. But I don’t think that’s it. Did you notice that she didn’t check on him or anything? I get that she’s mad at him for hurting her. But I’d have thought she’d at least want to see if he was going to live. She didn’t even look, did she?”

“While you were helping him? No.”

“And he didn’t ask for her once he woke up, either. Before he was kind of mumbling about her, when he wasn’t really conscious yet, but not after. Don’t you think that’s weird? And he didn’t protest or anything when they sent him home. I know he couldn’t disobey Jacob anyway, but I was surprised he didn’t ask to stick around to find out what was going to happen to her. Jake didn’t order him not to speak or anything. I thought he’d want to defend her.”

Paul didn’t know what was going through Sam’s mind, nor did he care. “Maybe he finally wised up and realized how toxic she is. I mean, she’s so pissed about what he did to her, the way he fucked up her face.”

“I can’t blame her for that. It's not weird that she's angry he hurt her, it's weird that she stuck around after,” Leah said. “Do you know exactly what happened that night? I’ve heard the rumors, but nothing definitive.”

“Like, details? I don’t know. Nobody seems to know. He doesn’t think about it much, haven’t you noticed?”

She nodded slowly. “Other than feeling guilty, which he should. I just wondered. I know they argued or something.”

“Well, yeah. She said they argued, well, about you…” he trailed off. Now that he thought about it, all the information he had about that night came from chaotic flashes in Sam’s memory, and Emily’s word. He no longer trusted either source.

“About me?”

“She said she told him to go back to you, to leave her alone, but now that I think about it, that can’t be true.”

She turned in her seat to face him. “Why not?”

He swallowed hard. Why did he open this can of worms? He finally had Leah alone and safe. He ought to be convincing her to move in with him permanently, or at the very least, making her laugh and smile, not dwelling on her ex-fiance and ex-best friend. “Sam’s never thought about what happened before he phased and slashed her, as far as I know. But if she really told him to go back to you, he’d have done it, wouldn’t he? It’s like she said: he had no choice. He had to do whatever she wanted.”

“Huh. That is very fucked up. I don’t think that’s totally true, though. He doesn't do absolutely everything she wants. Just now she kept saying he’d defend her, but he just sat there while you lay into her.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. If you want me to make sense of those two, or imprinting, prepare to be disappointed.”

Her lips turned up very slightly. “You’re right. I’m trying to make sense of senseless things.”

He noticed her getting a pensive look on her face, and he felt her thoughts drifting away. He didn’t like it. He wanted her here with him, not thinking about Sam sitting alone in the cabin they once shared. He gently squeezed her knee. “Hey, don’t hurt your brain. It’s over, right? She’s gone, he’s no threat anymore, and you don’t have to worry about either of them.”

“You’re right. Wow. Is it really over?”

“No Victoria, no Edward, no Emily, Sam’s locked away. I think it is.” He flashed her his most charming grin, and he was happy to see that she returned it. As he pulled into his driveway and turned off the engine, she opened the passenger door and tried to maneuver her splinted leg out of it. “Hold up. Let me help you.” He jogged to the other side and lifted her out, carrying her bridal-style to the door.

“Maybe breaking myself isn’t so bad,” she teased. “I could get used to this kind of treatment.

He kissed her soundly and thought about what a sap he was becoming. “Me too.”

He set her down at the kitchen table and pulled ingredients out of the refrigerator. She sliced onions and tomatoes while he added spices to ground chuck and formed them into patties. They were uneven and misshapen since he couldn’t concentrate on what he was doing. Eventually she dabbed at her face with a napkin uncomfortably and asked, "Is there something on my face?"

He had just been staring at her, hadn't he? He was holding raw meat in his hand but not doing anything else. "No, no. You're fine. You're great. Your face is great. All your stuff is great. Fantastic, even, yeah… " He trailed off, wanting to shove a sock in his mouth to keep from babbling anymore.

She was skeptical. "Fantastic? I don't feel fantastic. Pretty sure I don't look that way either."

He rubbed at the back of his neck with his hand. He might as well be honest. "You're a hot girl sitting in my kitchen, and you don't seem to be mad at me, so that's pretty fantastic."

"You can't be sure I'm not mad. Maybe I think you're making those burgers all wrong and am pissed on the inside."

He rolled his eyes. “Because you’re so subtle about it when you get mad.” Then he frowned in an exaggerated fashion. "And what's wrong with my burgers? I haven't even started cooking them yet. At least taste one before you insult it."

"They’re all different sizes, and that one’s shaped like an egg. Plus you're squishing them too much. It makes them too dense.”

His frown turned into an exaggerated scowl. "Are you crabbing because your burgers won’t be fluffy enough? Because that's not a thing."

She held up her knife. "The hungry werewolf with a weapon says it is a thing. Are you challenging me?"

He laughed. "You don't look like much of a werewolf right now. I'm pretty sure I could take you."

"But I have weapons.” She held her crutch in one hand and the kitchen knife in the other. ”I'd get at least a couple good swipes in." She slashed in the air with the knife.

He winked at her. "You never know. Maybe I'm into kinky shit like that."

“Crippled girls or bleeding?” She snorted with laughter. "Either way, that's not sexy, not sexy at all."

“Swap the casts for leather and the knife for a whip, and then let’s talk.”

“Ah. The dominatrix look. A classic. Have you been a bad boy?” she teased.

He shrugged and leaned down, kissing her thoroughly. “Very. And I think you’ve been a naughty girl. Disobeying orders, putting yourself in danger. Someone needs to teach you a lesson. I think it should be me. Once you’re out of these things," he tapped at her splint, "I'm going to handcuff you to my bed. I really like the idea of having you at my mercy." Heat crept into her cheeks and her pulse started to race. She looked away, but not before he caught a glimpse of her pupils dilating. He took the knife from her hand and set it on the table, leaving his hand on top of hers. Into her ear, he whispered, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

She probably should have been insulted, offended even, at his patronizing tone. But this was Paul, not Sam, and she couldn’t help but be aroused. She struggled to come up with a witty comeback, but his breath on her neck was too distracting. Her stomach growled loudly before she could figure out how to answer. "Hey, whatever happened to my dinner?" she demanded.

He kissed the shell of her ear, chuckling. "You distracted me."

She batted her eyelashes at him and said, "Who, me? I was just sitting here minding my own business."

He reminded her, “And threatening me with a knife."

"Only in your world is that an invitation for dirty talk.”

He ogled her blatantly. "The way you look is an invitation for dirty talk, filthy thoughts, bad intentions…”

She shook her head in disbelief. “Right. Ratty clothes, a crutch, and ace wraps. Very sexy.”

“Babe, I could wrap you in bandages like a mummy, and if they were tight enough, you’d be sexy. Or if they were too loose, I could peek between them, and that'd be sexy too, so..."

"You’re ridiculous," she laughed and tossed a slice of tomato at him.

He caught it in his mouth and swallowed it down. “Mm. Good. That's good. I am starving. Why do you keep distracting me? I’m trying to make dinner! If we both wither away and die here, it'll be your fault.”

A few minutes later he set two cheeseburgers in front of her. Using red Solo cups filled with coke, they toasted each other to celebrate Sam's demotion and Emily's exile. Neither of them could remember the last time they enjoyed themselves so much.

Later that night, he couldn’t help himself. She was too tempting, and he finally had her alone. She felt like a child when she had to ask him to tug her shirt over her head because her range of motion was too limited, but she didn’t look like one. He stubbornly refused to loan her one of his tee shirts to sleep in, saying he had been deprived of her breasts for too long. She rolled her eyes and pulled one out of his dresser anyway, but he plucked it from her hand and held it above her head. Instead of trying to reach it, she simply turned around and reached for a second one. He took advantage of her distraction and pulled her shorts and panties down. Leah shrieked and lost her balance, which gave him the perfect opportunity to catch her around the waist, pick her up, and throw her clothing into the corner.

Paul tossed her onto the bed and climbed over her, caging her between his arms and legs. "Gotcha," he murmured against her laughing mouth. But instead of kissing her and working his way down her body like she expected, he started shaking the bed. "Earthquake! You're in an earthquake!"

She let out a burst of surprised laughter. "Oh my god. What are you, six years old?"

"I don't think I ever played this game when I was six. Do you think I could have gotten away with it?"

Then she noticed that his eyes were locked on her jiggling breasts, and she started giggling uncontrollably. "Depends. How often were you in this position with a girl with boobs when you were six?"

"Never," he admitted, "but when I was the right height, I realized I could get hugs from some of the MILFs, and it was perfect for burying my face in their tits. Like this." He dropped his face down to illustrate. His voice was muffled. "It was awesome until I got too tall."

She ran her fingers through his hair. "You cannot be serious."

He started nuzzling her with his cheeks. "There are very few advantages to being three and a half feet tall. You have to milk it! For a while, Embry's mom had the best set on the Rez, but then you grew a up a bit, and now you do." He lifted his head and grinned. "And for having the hottest tits around, you win a prize."

"Oh my god, do I even want to know?"

"It's this!" he said proudly, rutting at her thigh with his erection. He wished he had had the foresight to take his shorts off.

She covered her face with her hands as she laughed. "You are unbelievable. I thought you pantsed me just to start some sexytimes, but now I'm not so sure. Next time will you give me a wedgie instead of yanking my shorts off?"

"Will a wedgie turn your bikini panties into thongs? Because if so, then yes, I will," he admitted. "Although I won't mind if you just skip undies and go commando. Ooh, then it'll be even easier to moon Old Quil. He really got off easy today. You should flash him. It’d give him a heart attack." He twined his fingers through hers.

She snorted. "Does every man on this reservation need to see me naked? Bad enough the whole pack already knows what I look like in my birthday suit."

He slowly extended her arms over her head, hoping she wouldn't notice what he was doing. "You're right. It's no one else's business what you look like naked. Would you like me to blind anyone who sees your goodies? I could poke out their eyes."

"Are you going to start with yourself? Because if you can't see, I don't know how you'll manage to poke anyone else's eye out."

He laid one of her wrists over the other, grasping them both in one large hand. As he spoke, he closed his eyes and trailed his free hand down her face. "No, I'll be fine. I can feel eyes just fine." He playfully jabbed at her eyebrow with his finger.

"Hey, quit it!" she protested as she twisted her head back and forth.

"But maybe you'd look sexy in an eyepatch," he suggested as he trailed his hand down her neck.

She disagreed. "No one looks sexy in an eyepatch!"

"You would, especially if it was the only thing you were wearing."

"If you poke out my eye, you will never get near me with your fingers, or your dick, or anything, ever again!"

He pouted and nodded in resignation. "Fine. I won't poke your eyes out. But I will do this!" He tightened his hold on her wrists, and with his other hand, he started tickling her ribs mercilessly. She squirmed and thrashed under him, squealing and begging for mercy, but he didn't stop until tears fell from her eyes. When she finally recovered her senses, she saw him smiling down at her. His voice was warm and low. "You're sexy when you laugh, did you know that?"

She didn't answer with words. Instead, she reached around to the back of his neck with her good hand and pulled him down to her. If he hadn't distracted her with his silly behavior, she would have felt self-conscious about lying beneath him clad only in bandages. But he had convinced her that he didn't mind, so she set her embarrassment aside.

He was playful, affectionate, and sweet. His enthusiasm was infectious, and it made her grateful to be alive and in his company. He, likewise, felt content in a way that was quite foreign for him. In this moment he felt no urge to possess, dominate, or demand. He wanted to give, not take. The satisfied expression on her face, the sound of her breathy chuckles punctuating her moans, the way she lost herself so completely at his ministrations, these things aroused him even more than her enticing curves, lithe limbs, and distracting beauty. Finally he lost himself in her soft warmth, and he marveled at how lucky he was.

X-x-x-x-X

The next day, Leah forced Paul to go back to school. He was dangerously close to being barred from graduation due to absenteeism, but if he passed all his final exams, he could still finish on time. School was the last place he wanted to be, not only because he wanted to stay in bed with her, but also because he was worried that she would be gone when he returned. He whined and dragged his feet until she reminded him that he would have to go to summer school if he missed another day.

That afternoon, he was relieved to hear her voice inside. But he didn't know whom she was talking to. There was no one with her. When he opened the door, she was just hanging up the phone. "Was that Rosalie?" he asked. Her splints had been exchanged for casts, and he smelled traces of the vampire, so she must have seen her earlier in the day.

"No. She stopped by, though. She said the lawyer wired Emily’s dirty money back to her, and she said she gave it away to some charities.”

“That’s good. So who was that?”

A wide grin spread across her face. “It was Rachel. I'm so excited, she's coming back for a visit! She'll be here in a few days."

"Jake's sister?" He set down his backpack and leaned down to kiss her. "Cool. Is she coming home for the summer?"

"No. She's got this great internship, so she only has a few days."

He pointed at the fiberglass on her arm and leg. "What are you going to say happened?"

"I told her I fell down the stairs. It was really sweet. She offered to skip the internship and stay with me and help me out, but I don't want her to miss out on the opportunity. Plus I'm not helpless or anything, and I said that you, Seth, and my mom are taking good care of me. Which reminds me. I'm kind of out of clean clothes here."

He was nervous that she was about to ask him to take her home, and then she would stay there. Now that they weren't in danger any longer, he didn't think Sue would appreciate him sleeping over. "Pfft. You don't need clothes," he teased. "They just cover up your most awesome bits. Nah, but do you want me to pick up some stuff for you? I can run over and grab your things."

"My mom's cooking steak tonight. Why don't we go over and let her feed us?"

Normally he would have been thrilled at the idea of free steak, but his facial expression revealed his concerns even as he hesitantly said, "Sure..."

She immediately answered his unspoken concern. "We can get more of my stuff when we're there, okay? I'm picky about what I want."

He was so happy at her offer that he squished her in a tight hug, picking her off her feet. As he set her back down, he said, "Yeah. As long as you bring that lacy black bra and the matching panties. And the blue one that hooks in the front. And those short shorts, the one with the little rip in the pocket. And..."

"No shirts? No pajamas?"

"Maybe you can have a couple shirts, and I'll even let you bring a pair of yoga pants," he hedged, "but absolutely no pajamas. Pajamas are the devil."

She snickered. "The devil? Really?"

He frowned and scolded, "When you sleep in my bed, you will sleep naked. If I let you sleep at all."

He toned down the sexual banter at Sue's house after Seth threatened to castrate him, but he made sure to pack all of his favorite lingerie in Leah's duffel bag. At the dinner table, he tried to play footsie with her under the table, but he kept running into her cast instead. Leah finally kicked him, and he started paying attention to the conversation at hand.

Seth explained that no one had heard from Emily after she was thrown off the reservation, although Kim had tried and failed to track her down. Jared was upset when he finally learned of all the dramatic events that had been deliberately kept from him. He was angry that no one trusted him, but after learning the depths of Emily's betrayal, he grudgingly understood that Jacob had to be cautious. He planned to regularly check on Sam, which Jacob also intended, but he thought he could provide more support to his friend.

A little later, while Paul was helping Sue with the dishes, Jacob and Embry stopped by with an update. They had just come from Sam's cabin. They described him as being oddly detached. He had asked after Leah, but not about Emily. They hadn't told him much, and he was worried that she still needed a cast. Though his own injuries were grave, they had all healed in their entirety. Physically he was fine, but otherwise, he seemed like an empty shell.

Once Jared visited Sam, he was able to provide additional insight. He expected Sam to be devastated by the exile of his imprint, but he simply was not. He prodded Sam to find out what was going on. Sam had simply shrugged and said he knew Emily didn't want to be around him. He could sense it. So long as that was the case, the imprint didn't grab at him. He was without moorings. He seemed unconcerned about his own fate or Emily's. The only person he asked about was Leah. Jared was confused by the reaction until he thought about the way his own moods were dictated by Kim's. If she was lonely and pining for him, he missed her desperately. But if she was content without him, he did not feel pulled to her side. Perhaps Emily was too angry or disappointed with Sam's failure. Right now, she did not appear to want him. In return, he made no attempt to defy Jacob’s order. He seemed resigned to his imprisonment.

Leah wasn't sure what to think. A small part of her thought she ought to go to the cabin to check on him. After all, he had once been the most important person in her world. But the greater part of her wanted to avoid him as long as possible. It was easy enough to do. Before, he intruded into her life, her personal space, and her mind. Now she luxuriated in the privacy of her solitary thoughts, while he was restricted to his home. Unless Jacob gave him explicit permission to see her, her boundaries could remain intact.

Leah decided to focus on herself, her family, and Paul. Her mother was relieved that the danger had passed. Her brother was thrilled that Jacob had taken over as Alpha. Leah dared to hope that her future had been returned to her. She thought about going back to school, work, or both. WSU would let her return for the fall semester if she desired, and she hoped to return to the hospital where she had worked. Rachel might even want to room together again. But was she willing to leave Paul behind? Or would he consider coming with her? He hadn't applied to the University, nor were his grades good enough to earn him admission. But she didn't doubt that he was smart enough. He could start with community college and consider transferring, just as she had. Or perhaps he could learn a trade or get a job. The truth was, she had no idea what he wanted to do. She wasn't sure he had given his future serious consideration, and she didn't know how to ask.

First, though, he needed to graduate. They spent the next few afternoons cramming for his final exams. Leah quizzed him on his history lessons, and she explained several chemistry concepts that he missed because of his patrol schedule. Normally he would have allowed himself to be distracted by the hint of skin he could see between the hem of her shirt and the top of her shorts, or the way she smiled, or the plumpness of her lips, but he refused to go to summer school. Moreover, he wanted to impress her, and failing his classes would only accomplish the opposite. And though she hadn't explicitly stated that she was moving back to Pullman, he knew it was only a matter of time before she left La Push. He needed to position himself to go with her, not to force her to choose between him and the future she worked so hard for.

The way Leah talked about college life made Pullman sound as exciting as Seattle or San Francisco. When she talked about the friends she had made, the accomplishment she felt by succeeding at her job, or the intellectual stimulation of her classes, her eyes lit up. Paul was invigorated just from listening to her, not only feeling her excitement about returning, but hoping that he could make such a life for himself as well. Once upon a time, he had had vague, childish ideas about what he would do when he grew up, but as the time grew closer for him to officially enter the world as an adult, the less concrete his thinking became. His father wasn't around often enough to make sure the pantry was stocked, let alone to talk to him about getting a job or applying for financial aid. His feelings about the man swung between a giddy sense of freedom from authority to a vague, empty sense of abandonment. His mother had left ten years prior, and as far as he knew, she never looked back. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but the pack was more of a family to him than his own. Even Sam, with his dangerous hubris and overblown self-righteousness, displayed more concern for Paul's welfare than his absent parents.

Then there was Leah, loyal, brilliant, stubborn, brave, foolish Leah. She was not-so-quietly cursing as she tried to use a coat hanger to scratch an itch on the inside of her leg cast. He tried not to smile at her. In her current mood, she would just get irritated at him for laughing at her. She wasn’t sleeping very well, finding it difficult to get comfortable next to him in his tiny twin bed with cumbersome casts limiting her movement. She was also getting quite bored while he was at school all day. She wasn’t used to having nothing to do, and she didn’t like it very much. Just as Seth had warned him, she got cranky when she was unwell. It was a good thing he thought she was cute when she was cranky, and hot when she was pissed. He found himself daydreaming about a very round, very pregnant Leah throwing a bowl at his head while complaining that he bought her the wrong kind of ice cream.

She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. “Do you think this is funny?” she demanded. “Because it’s not. It sucks.”

Oh well. He had failed to keep the smirk off his face, but he knew better than to tell her how pink her cheeks had turned, or how pouty her lips were, while she struggled with her cast. “Maybe a spider crawled down there,” he teased her. “Or a cockroach.”

She poked him with the hanger. “Don’t even joke about that! I had a patient once who had a moth crawl inside their ear. A fricking moth! When he tried to pull it out, the wings snapped off. So of course he tried to get it out with his finger, but he only managed to smash it. I had to flush all the guts out! It was gooey and disgusting, and you just made me think of it again.” She shuddered.

Paul couldn’t resist. He tore a small piece off the slice of buttered cinnamon toast he was eating, dropped it into his glass of milk, and fished it out with his spoon. He held it out to her. “Did it look kind of like this?”

She laughed and slapped it away. “No, but good try. That doesn’t have enough legs.”

He popped it into his mouth. “Tastes better without legs.”

She grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand toward her mouth, then took a bite of his bread. “Mmm. That’s delicious.”

“Hey!” He yanked his arm back. “I offered you your own slice, and you said no. You don’t get to change your mind now!” He stuffed the rest of the bread into his mouth before she could steal any more.

“Says who?” She stood and hobbled to the toaster, sliding in two more slices. “Why don’t we have breakfast three times a day? It’s so good.”

“Ey, ih ow." He tried to speak around his mouthful of food. After swallowing, he continued, “I was just joking. I’ll make you some. Sit down before you hurt yourself.”

She waved him away. “You’re not done. You haven’t finished that question set. You left off on the electron configuration of Chromium.”

He groaned and grabbed his pencil. “I’m too hungry. I can’t think about chromium right now.”

“I’ll cook dinner. Breakfast for dinner, actually, since that’s what I want. If you’re done with that by the time I’m ready to go, I may even let you come with me to Jake's.”

He wrote out the answer and told her, “I don’t know. Maybe I’d be safer here. I’ll probably drown under the tide of estrogen that you and Rachel give off when you see each other again.”

“Hey, if I could survive the onslaught of testosterone from being in the pack, you can survive one night with Rachel and me,” she smiled.

Under his breath, he mumbled something she couldn’t hear and scribbled something on the paper in front of him.

She paused with one hand hovering over the stove. “Huh?”

“Testosterone, C19H28O2, is converted to estradiol, C18H24O2, by the enzyme aromatase.” He held up his sheet, where he had drawn the chemical equation.

She blinked at him. “Did you guys get to organic chemistry at the end of the semester?”

“Not really.” He shrugged. “But I accidentally read the chapters last night.”

“Accidentally?”

“I thought they covered this during that week I missed, but they didn’t. I was holding up the paper upside down. They covered chapter 18, not chapter 81.”

She burst out laughing. “You are… you are the brainiest kind of dumbass. You memorized a bunch of organic chemistry because you couldn’t tell 18 from 81?”

“Shut up.” He wadded up his paper and tossed it at her head.

She caught it and tossed it back at him. “You really don’t need to study anymore, do you?”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you!” he whined as he shoved his homework to one side of the table.

As they prepared their food, she asked, “So, do you like chemistry? You seem pretty good at it.”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t bother me like Literature does.” He cracked half a carton of eggs into a large mixing bowl.

She grabbed a block of cheddar and started to grate it. “Literature bothers you?”

“Literature doesn’t bother me,” he clarified. “But analyzing the underlying meaning of books kind of pisses me off. I mean, I’ll read something to enjoy it, or because I need to know the information it contains, or because it teaches me something. But blathering on about the symbolism? That’s just a pointless circlejerk.”

“And I’m guessing History falls into the same category?” she asked tentatively, wondering if they were actually going to talk about his long term plans.

"Hokwat history or our history?" He beat the eggs with a fork. “I dunno. I guess like chemistry, even though my brain is fried right now. I liked physics last year, too, before things here turned to shit.”

She waited for him to say more, but he was quiet, so she prompted, “You want to keep going to school?”

“Pretty sure I need to get a job,” he shrugged, “if I want to keep eating. My dad gives me enough money for food, barely, right now, but I’m pretty sure that’s going to end after graduation.”

“Did he tell you that?”

His voice took on a hard edge, though he tried to hide it. “He left a voicemail. I could hear his girlfriend in the background. Pretty sure it was her idea. I mean, it’s totally fair. I’m an adult, after all…”

“It’s still shitty,” she said. “He could at least have had the balls to tell you in person.” She wanted to ask if his father was coming to graduation, but she didn’t think she’d like the answer. Paul’s father was so removed from his life that she still hadn’t met him despite the nights she had spent in their house, and the fact that she had basically moved in.

“Whatever,” he sighed. “It’s not like he’s kicking me out or anything. He said I could stay here, and he didn’t say anything about paying rent, although I guess it’d be fair if he asked for it, especially after graduation. He’s still paying the mortgage on this place, I’m pretty sure.”

Her hand stilled on the block of cheese. “So you think you’ll stay here? Just get a job?”

His jaw clenched. Was that what she was hoping? Was she about to break up with him? Her expression was much too serious. He hated how nervous he was. Nothing made him nervous, certainly not girls. Not since his awkward, unsatisfying first time having sex had he felt this way. Not even vampires made him nervous. They made him angry. Only Leah made his stomach flip, his palms sweat. “I dunno. I’d rather not. What would I do, process fish at the cannery? Landscaping at the resort? Man the register at the gas station? Those jobs suck. Plus most of them don't have openings anyway."

She took a deep breath. Why was her heart beating so quickly? He could hear it, couldn’t he? She decided to say something before he noticed how nervous she was. She didn’t look at him as she suggested, “The market’s a little better in Pullman. Maybe you should look for something there? It’d be the same kind of entry-level job, and it’s not as exciting as Seattle, but it’s a hell of a lot more affordable…”

He hadn’t noticed how fast her heart was beating, because he was too embarrassed about his own. “Plus I’d know someone in Pullman, right?” he ventured. “When are you going back?”

She opened a bag of lunch meat and started tearing apart strips of ham. “I don’t know. I mean, I can’t really work until these come off…” She held up her splinted wrist. “But after that, it’d be nice to get back to a normal life. And I don’t want to be a floor nurse for the rest of my life. I’d really like to get my NP degree.”

“You should,” he said firmly. “I hadn’t thought about it before, and I admit, I was kind of pissed when I saw you helping Sam. But you were good at it.”

“Thanks. I had incomplete grades after leaving the way I did, but they understood when I told them my dad died. They’ll take me back for fall semester if I want. Have you thought about more school?” she asked tentatively.

“Community college seems doable, don’t you think? Plus a job, of course.”

She peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. He looked awfully excited to be whipping the eggs, which were already thoroughly beaten. “Spokane Falls Community College has a campus there. They have an Associate’s degree in Applied Science.”

He wondered why she knew that. Had she been looking at their website while he was gone all day? “That sounds like a really good idea. Maybe I can come check out the place when you go back? And look for work, too.”

Now she turned to him, because she wanted to see the look on his face. It gave her the courage to ask, “And look for a place to stay, maybe?”

He put down the bowl and fork. The hopeful expression on her face told him what he wanted to know. “A studio apartment would be cheaper than a one or two-bedroom, wouldn’t it?”

Her smile mirrored his, and it reached her eyes. “Yeah. My mom has a futon in the basement that nobody ever uses. I bet she would let us have it."

"And my dad obviously doesn't use anything in this house. We could take the towels and sheets and stuff, and he'd never notice."

She grabbed his hand, and he squeezed it back tightly. "Wow. We're really doing this, aren't we?"

He swallowed hard and nodded, then pulled her flush against him around her waist and kissed her deeply. He could hardly believe it. Only one month prior, he wasn’t sure he would have any future at all. He knew a vampire might kill him before his twentieth birthday. After Victoria died, he no longer feared death, but his path was directionless and uncertain. Now for the first time, the future seemed bright, vivid, and exciting, all because of Leah. When she separated slightly in order to breathe, the words tumbled out of his mouth before they formed a conscious thought. "I love you, you know that?" As he waited, shocked and wondering what he had just done, he realized he had no memory of ever speaking those words to anyone, though he must have at some point. Surely he had once told his mother? He didn’t remember any such thing. He barely remembered the emotion, but somehow, it had crept up on him, filled him, and spilled over. It was true even if he hadn’t realized it until that very moment. Involuntarily, he held his breath.

He was so quiet that she never would have heard him without her supernatural senses, and when she realized what he had said, she was as stunned by his statement as he was. Her eyes widened, and she tried to look up at him. But he was holding her too tightly and leaning his forehead against hers. His eyes were tightly shut. But she knew there was nothing false or coercive about him. He was terrified about what she would say, but he said nothing to retract his words or clarify them despite how long she was dragging out the silence between them. He might not have intended to tell her now, but he was being honest. She was certain of it. He had no guile or hidden agenda. It was one of her favorite things about him, unexpected though it was.

She finally found her voice. "I know," she whispered. She hadn’t wondered about it, hadn’t suspected, hadn’t fantasized about him saying the words. But she still knew. She felt the tension in his grip and wanted to relieve it, heard the pleading in his voice that he hadn’t meant to share. She thought of how strong he was in his core, yet still so vulnerable beneath his bluster and bravado. She thought of how alone he was in the world. She would not let him feel that way ever again. He was too honest, too good, too generous, even if he didn’t know it. "By now, I'm pretty sure you know I love you too."

He didn't know what to say. She deserved something eloquent, something thoughtful, something profound. He had no such words to offer her. Instead, he finally let himself breathe. Then he gave her his happiness in the form of a fierce, passionate kiss.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks again to Babs81410, and to whoever was kind enough to vote for this story and Found and Lost for Non Canon Awards.


	32. Fate

Paul nearly convinced Leah to stay home and in bed with him, but she would not. As thrilled as she was by his declaration, she had other things to do. She had updated her X rays, and Rosalie called to say that Leah’s casts could come off. It seemed that the effects of the venom had finally worn off, and her healing powers had kicked in. She couldn’t wait. She would go to the Cullen mansion first, and she had already promised Rachel a visit. Paul was good to her, a wonderful surprise amidst unexpected chaos, but no one could fill the shoes of her old friend. She was heartbroken by Sam's abrupt end to their engagement, but it was Emily's betrayal that shocked her the most. She knew that boyfriends came and went, though she thought she and Sam loved each other in a way that would keep them together, but it had never occurred to her that her best friend, her family, would not only steal her fiancé, but also take such delight in hurting her. Paul could sympathize with her, make her feel alive, take care of her, even love her, but he could not fill the hole in her heart that Emily left behind. Rachel, on the other hand, had been the perfect remedy for her despair.

She dragged Paul out of his house. It only took a few minutes to get the casts off, and then they headed to Jake's. He couldn't keep the dumb grin off his face, and she had to remind him to keep his eyes on the road and off her when he nearly hit Mrs. Brady’s cat when it placidly crossed the road in front of his truck. He settled for twining her fingers through his and kissing her hand again and again. He drove slowly, purposefully delaying their arrival, because he preferred to have her all to himself. She happily stretched her newly freed limbs and chattered on about Rachel, her college friends, the job she had left, and places she missed in Pullman. Now, instead of dreading her departure, he was excited at the prospect of joining her there.

As they pulled into the gravel drive, they saw Rachel’s old Honda Accord parked next to Billy's truck. Leah eagerly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door before Paul stopped the car. "Hang on there, babe. Let's not break your other leg, okay?" As he shifted into park, they heard a door slam, and Jacob ran out the back. He spotted them and jogged over. "What's going on?" Paul asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the living room curtain fall shut. Behind it, a shape moved. It was too tall to be Billy, limited as he was to his wheelchair, so it must have been Rachel.

The hard edge to Jacob's voice drew his attention back. "Jared just called me. Sam collapsed. I'm on my way over there. Leah, can you come? We may need you."

She nodded and slid back into the truck. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Jared said something's wrong with him, but he couldn't really explain. He just said to go over right away. I'm going to run over. Meet me there?"

Leah told him, "We're coming," and shut the door. As Paul put the car in reverse, he saw a slim girl peeking out the front door out of the corner of his eye. Leah waved at her and made a telephone gesture with her hand, and they sped away.

"What do you think is going on?" he asked.

She sighed and shook her head. "Who knows? Another tribal curse? I should have checked on him. With Emily gone, maybe he hasn't been eating and drinking. He's probably not taking care of himself. I knew I should have gone over there."

"No, you don't owe him a damn thing. You know that, right?"

"I know. Just old habit, I guess. When we were together, some days I thought he'd forget to eat if I didn't remind him. That was before he phased, anyway. After that, I wondered how he got a growth spurt so late. I actually thought maybe he had some kind of hormone problem. Then I was afraid he'd eat us out of house and home, but he still forgot all kinds of other things." Her grip on his hand loosened slightly as she remembered, "He never knew where his keys were. He was always losing them. So if I was home when he got home, he'd give them to me because I could keep track of them. He probably hasn't been eating right since Emily left. He certainly can't cook. Did you know that he once started a fire trying to make mac and cheese, the Kraft kind? Out of a box?"

Paul stroked her palm with his thumb, trying to regain her attention. "So what you're telling me is that he's always been kind of a moron, huh?"

To his relief, she turned to him, laughed, and said, "Maybe. He could ruin easy mac, but your bacon mac & cheese is killer. You figured out that the way to a werewolf's heart is through her stomach."

"Damn straight. And you don't have to wipe my ass for me, either."

She snickered. "Okay, he's kind of helpless, but not that helpless."

He glanced at her skeptically. "Really? Because I remember what he was like. And I seem to recall you spoon fed him watered down apple juice like he was a baby."

"That was one time, because he had food poisoning!" she laughed. "I was on the verge of taking him to the hospital for IV fluids."

He felt a rush of jealousy over her once-affectionate care of Sam. "He was probably faking it just to get you to fuss over him. Hell, he's probably faking it now."

She arched a brow at him. "He vomited on my feet that day, Paul. Not exactly a smooth move, and there’s no way he thought he was seducing me like that. I’m comfortable cleaning up bodily fluids because of my job, but it doesn’t mean I like it."

Paul knew something Leah did not. He had seen in Sam's memories that that was the very day that Sam decided to propose to her. He felt absolutely terrible, and she was like some kind of guardian angel, cooling his brow with wet washcloths, making him ginger and honey tea to settle his stomach, and placing her warm hand on his aching belly to soothe his hurt. She saw him at what was, to date, his worst moment, and rather than recoil, she showered love upon him. Embarrassing though it was, it had been one of Sam’s favorite memories before he imprinted. Paul wanted to smack himself for bringing it up. "We'll see. Just watch out for him. He's still a manipulative prick."

"Still? He sure is now, no doubt, but he didn't used to be. He was a good guy.” Her voice went serious and quiet, and her expression quite sad. “You know the most fucked up thing about him imprinting on Emily? It wasn't that he broke up with me. It was how much he changed, so suddenly, into this totally different person.”

As much as he despised Sam and felt uncomfortable with Leah's feelings toward him, he said sincerely, "For what it's worth, and even though it turned out great for me, I'm sorry about how everything went down with him. You didn't deserve any of it."

She shook her head and turned to look at him. "Isn't it terrifying? In the blink of an eye, to just lose everything that makes you who you are. Does it scare you? Because it scares the hell out of me."

It took him several seconds to figure out that she wasn't talking about Sam anymore. She was talking about him. He swallowed hard. He had deliberately avoided considering the possibility that he could imprint on another girl. He was so focused on Leah that he actually managed to forget it could happen. He squeezed her hand tightly. "I sure as shit don't want that curse for either one of us. I'd rather kill myself than end up like Sam, and if you imprint on some other dude, I'm going to have to kill him." He thought about adding that it wouldn't be so bad to imprint on her, but since it was impossible, he kept the idea to himself.

Her mouth dropped open slightly. "Do you even think that's possible? I mean, I know you might. I hate it, and I like to pretend it's never going to happen, but I'm not dumb. I know I might just be setting myself up for a fall..."

"I'm not going to do that to you," he said gruffly. "I won't," he insisted.

She ignored him, knowing it was a promise he couldn't keep. "It honestly never occurred to me that I could imprint. I just... I'm not supposed to exist, not like this."

"Not supposed to exist? What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean. Girls aren't supposed to phase. No one ever has, before me. Let's face it. I'm kind of a freak of nature, and I'm guessing that whatever fucked up mutation screwed me up isn't supposed to be passed down to future generations. So I really doubt I could imprint. I'm sure the spirits don't want me contaminating the tribe."

He couldn't help himself. The way she was insulting herself made him angry. He gritted his teeth and snarled, "Don't you talk like that. That's bullshit, and you know it. If the spirits are the ones who pick the imprints, they obviously know jack squat about what's good for us. They hand picked the most dangerous, destructive, evil bitch for Sam. And did it ever occur to you that you're the first girl to shift for a reason? It wasn't a mistake. We need you. The pack needs you. If it weren't for you, Victoria would still be out there. You're the only one who was fast enough to catch her. And as far as the gene pool is concerned, our tribe is, like, an endangered species. There aren’t a lot of us left, right? So if the spirits have any interest in preserving wolf packs for future generations, they'll definitely use your genes. Who else here has the kind of bloodline you and your brother have? Aren't you guys related to everyone in the last pack?"

Reluctantly, she admitted, "Yeah, but…"

"But nothing! If anybody should worry about getting left in the dust for an imprint, it's me, not you!"

Leah grabbed his thigh and squeezed tightly. She knew that he, like Sam, might imprint and leave her. Maybe she should have have distanced herself for the sake of self-preservation. But by the time she realized how strongly cared for him, it was too late. She already loved him. She couldn’t stop if she tried. Losing him would be terrible, but she refused to live her life in fear. And Paul was worth the risk. But it never occurred to her that he might be just as anxious as she was over and the possibility. After all, she had pieced herself back together after Sam and Emily tried to break her. She knew that she could do it. She had made a new life for herself once before, painful though it was, and she could to do it again. And though she lost her father, Sam, and Emily, she still had her mother, brother, and Rachel. Paul had no one but her. His mother had abandoned him years ago, and his father was barely present in his life. He had just bared himself to her in a way he had never done with anyone. She was his first love, and she could feel that he wanted her to be his only, though the words remained unspoken. He wasn’t even done with high school, barely an adult, with nothing to fall back on if his life fell apart. No one but her. He had made himself vulnerable with his honesty, and she shouldn't take that for granted.

"I didn't mean to blow you off. I'm sorry. For what it's worth, though, if the spirits really wanted me to carry on the gene, one of you guys probably would have imprinted on me already. I mean, Sam's fucked up plan for the two of us to phase forever, well, it was just crazy. But he did make me wonder if I can have kids at all. He thought that if I was able to have kids, he’d have imprinted on me.”

“He’s nuts. Don’t listen to a thing he says. He didn’t imprint on you because he’s not good enough for you!” As soon as the words left his mouth, he wondered if the same applied to him.

She reassured him, “Oh, I don’t think he has any idea what he’s talking about. I just wonder if I’m supposed to pass on these genes, or if I even want to. I don’t know. Maybe there's some girl out there waiting to steal you, and some guy lying in wait to ambush me and wipe my brain.” She shuddered visibly. “I really hope we never meet either one of them. I like my free will intact, thank you very much, and I want to be with you, not some random stranger."

“Me too, baby,” he sighed. "I feel like neither of us should ever look a stranger in the eyes again. You think that's possible?"

She chuckled, "No, but I'll keep it in mind. Pretty sure the only way that would work is if we decided to blind ourselves."

He leered asked her lasciviously as he pulled up to Sam's house. "But then I wouldn't get to look at how hot you are." Before turning off the engine, Paul slid his hand around the back of Leah's neck, pulled her close, and kissed her.

He would have done more if she let him, but after affectionately stroking his cheek with her thumb, she cleared her throat and slipped on her professional mask. Her voice lost its girlish lilt, and she said, "I had better check on my patient. Come on."

When they opened the door, they found Jacob crouching by the couch, where Sam lay. His head was tossed back, and his neck muscles strained prominently outward. His fists were clenched and his eyes squeezed shut. He was panting through gritted teeth, and he twisted his head back and forth. Sweat beaded on his brow. Jared stood on the other side of the room, his hands on his hips. "What happened?" Leah asked.

Jared shook his head helplessly. "I have no idea. We were just talking, and he seemed fine. All of a sudden, he just doubled over and made this sound. I guess you'd call it groaning, but that doesn't sound nearly as bad as it actually was. It was almost like a scream. He sort of fell out of his chair, and then he started, like, writhing around. He wouldn't get up. I tried to get his attention, but I can't seem to get through to him. I had to pick him up and put him on the couch, and he's been like that ever since."

Leah asked, "Has he said anything?"

"He was kind of muttering," Jared answered. "It sounds like he says he's in pain, but I really can't tell."

Leah asked Paul, "Can you grab the thermometer? It's in the bathroom under the sink." Then she bent over Sam and touched his hand. "Sam? Sam, can you hear me?" His eyes popped open but did not focus on her or anything else. "Are you okay?"

He made a strangled noise, but otherwise did not respond. Jacob said, "That's all we've gotten out of him."

She placed her fingers against his carotid artery and noted, "His pulse is racing. That's not normal. But he doesn't look dehydrated. His lips are moist. And are those tears?" She leaned closer so that her face was directly in front of his glazed eyes. "Sam? Do you hear me? It's me. It's Leah."

He blinked slowly, trying to understand, until he finally whispered, "Lee Lee? Lee Lee?"

"Yeah, it's me. Can you tell me what happened? How do you feel?"

Instead of answering, he swiftly reached up and wrapped his arms around her, dragging her down to him. His entire body shook violently, but his grip was strong and desperate. Into her ear, he hissed, "It hurts. Lee Lee, it hurts."

She tried to pull back, but he was too strong. It wasn't until Paul returned with the thermometer and growled, prying Sam's fingers off her skin one by one, that she was able to stand up. "Keep your filthy paws to yourself!"

Sam obviously didn't even register Paul's presence. He reached out for her, but this time Leah saw it coming and quickly grabbed his hand and pushed it back toward his chest. "You have to let me take your temperature." As she reached for the thermometer, she dryly said, "He's not the first grabby-handed patient I've ever taken care of." Then she efficiently popped the probe in his mouth when he tried to say her name. "He doesn't have a fever, actually, at least not as far as we're concerned. You said it hurts. Where does it hurt, Sam?"

He groaned again, and she repeated herself without getting a response. The only thing he would do was pull at her hand. Jared asked, "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know." Leah finally allowed him to pull her down against Paul's wishes. Sam gripped her by the back of her skull and pulled her forehead to his, whimpering. She repeated, "Where are you in pain?"

He hoarsely whispered, "Everywhere. It burns everywhere. Please make it stop."

Paul tried to pull Sam's hands away, but Leah stopped him. "I'm finally getting somewhere," she explained. “Do you feel like you're going to throw up? How’s your stomach?" She could feel him nodding his head slightly. “Are you dizzy? Lightheaded?"

"Everything is spinning," he told her.

She asked, "Is it hard to breathe?"

"Yes!" he cried. “Everything’s wrong. What's going on? Everything burns!"

She tried to clarify. “Is it your chest? Your head? Your stomach? What hurts, exactly?"

He squeezed his eyes shut again, shaking his head vigorously, but did not loosen his grip on her. "Lee Lee. Lee Lee. Help me, please."

"What hurts, exactly?"

He wailed, "Everything! All of it. All of it."

This time she forced him to release her. "Sam, I have to examine you. You need to let me go." She dislodged her fingers from his and reached up, unwrapping his hand from her hair. Paul gladly helped, holding Sam's arms at his sides. Leah probed at his abdomen, felt along his ribs, and squeezed along all four limbs. He whimpered and groaned throughout, but it made no difference when she removed her hands. She murmured, "It doesn't seem to be any worse when I'm applying pressure. Sam, do you know where you are?" He didn't answer, so she leaned closer. "Sammy?" she tried the old endearment, whispering into his ear.

He whimpered, twisting his wrists out of Paul's grip and grabbing her once more. "Lee Lee? Don't leave me," he begged.

Paul moved to free her again, but she stopped him. Sam only seemed to answer when she was in very close contact. "Hang on." She waved him away. Against the shell of Sam’s ear, she asked gently, "Do you know where you are?"

Sam began to pant, looking around the room, trying to figure it out. He blinked at Jacob, Paul, and Jared in confusion before his eyes rolled up into his skull. He whispered so quietly that only Leah could hear him. "In the dark. Spinning in the dark."

"Do you know what day it is? What month. What year?"

Sam clutched at her and squeezed his eyes shut. His voice cracked. "No time. There's no time. It's too late."

She repeated her question, but he didn't answer. Finally she asked him, "Do you know your name? Can you tell me who you are?"

But Sam didn't answer. Over and over, he clutched at her and repeated, "Lee Lee. Lee Lee, please. Don't leave me here." He sounded small and scared.

It was finally Jacob who forced Sam to release Leah. He ordered Sam, “Let her go,” and Sam immediately complied with a broken cry. His arms fell loosely at his sides. Leah stumbled to the other side of the room and into Paul’s arms. “What do you think is going on?” Jacob asked.

She shrugged. “He seems delirious, but from what, I don’t know. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he had some kind of a bad infection.”

“Can that happen to us?” Paul asked.

“Not that I know of. Not one of us has ever gotten sick from anything other than a vampire bite,” Jacob replied.

“But I was here when he went down,” Jared argued. “He obviously didn’t get bitten by a leech.”

Leah shrugged. “It can’t hurt to look him over for wounds, though. And while we’re at it, search the house for drugs. Narcotic withdrawal looks a little like this.”

“Shit. You think he’s been getting high?” Paul asked.

“I haven’t seen any evidence of it,” Jacob answered, “but apparently he did a pretty good job of hiding things from us.”

“I’ll check him over,” Leah said, "look for bites and track marks, although I doubt you’d be able to see a needle mark on one of us.”

Paul held her back. “No. Don’t get close to him again. He’s going to hurt you.”

Jacob sent her to search the house. “You and Paul see if you find any pills or needles or anything. You know this place better than we do. Jared and I will check Sam.”

But none of them found anything. Sam’s skin was unblemished, and the only substances they found in the house were two bottles of wine, an unopened bottle of scotch, and Emily’s allergy medicine. Meanwhile, Sam seemed to worsen. He writhed where he lay, muttering nonsense and crying out. It was only when Leah touched him that he seemed to calm. She was able to get him to answer basic questions, and she even managed to feed him a small amount of soup. When she fed him a saltine cracker dipped in broth, he immediately retched it back up, but he managed to hold down the fluids. He even stumbled to the bathroom to relieve himself while leaning on Leah’s shoulder.

Right before he left for Kim’s house, Jared speculated, “Maybe this is what happen when your imprint leaves you. I doubt I’d be in much better shape if Kim decided to end things.” They continued discussing the possibility after he left. Although it was plausible, it didn’t explain why Sam was basically fine for the first few days after Emily’s departure. Jacob described him as flat and emotionless, not delirious, and in no physical pain. They tried to contact her, but she didn’t answer her phone when they called, and according to her mother, she hadn’t gone home to Neah Bay or contacted anyone else in the family. She had vanished.

After that, the other wolves came and went, but Leah stayed. Sam’s condition slowly deteriorated. She kept him going, barely, with chicken broth and gatorade. Every time she left his side, his distress increased. His pain bloomed, and he lost what little connection to reality remained. So she stayed, unsure what else to do. Paul urged her to leave, take a break, but she didn’t think it was safe. She actually wanted to transfer him to a hospital, but she was forbidden by the Council. They couldn’t risk anyone finding out their secret. Leah’s compromise was to stay with him.

Sam finally fell into a fitful sleep. His eyes fluttered beneath his closed lids, and his lips moved from time to time, as if he was speaking, but Paul was certain he was lost to dreams. Leah had succumbed to sleep half an hour before, slumping in the armchair she had pulled up to the couch. Paul gently lifted her up and carried her to the guest bedroom. Moments later, he heard Sam groan Leah’s name, although he believed because of the other man’s pattern of breathing that he had not actually awoken.

He stood over her, looking at the scar Victoria had embedded into her neck. It was shaped like the waning moon, and unlike her other wounds, which had all healed, this scar was a permanent reminder of how vulnerable she really was. He gently traced the imperfection, and she shivered but did not wake. Then he shifted his eyes to the delicate line of her jaw, the plumpness of her pink lips, the length of her thick eyelashes resting against her cheeks. She was as beautiful now as she had been when he first saw her as a child, but more womanly, more tempting. Her chest rose and fell evenly with her breath, her sensual curves hidden beneath her cotton shirt. Paul’s hands twitched to remove the offensive clothing. As he stood over her, he couldn’t help but mentally undress her, and he wondered how many times Sam had stripped her bare in this very room. He knew from Sam’s memories that they hadn’t confined their sexual activities to their bedroom. As Paul’s fists clenched and his breathing grew heavier, his sex stiffened even as his jealousy grew. Thinking about the things Sam had done with Leah simultaneously aroused and enraged him. He knew he ought to let Leah sleep as well, but he couldn’t resist the urge to mark his territory inside Sam’s cabin.

He loomed over her, contemplating where to start. He woke her up by pushing up her shirt, tugging at the cup of her bra, and suckling at her breast until her nipple peaked.

“Mmm… Paul...” He could tell she wasn’t awake yet. Her eyes were still closed. He was satisfied to know that even in her sleep, she dreamed of him, not Sam.

He palmed the other breast in his hand, frustrated with the fabric in his way. He was hard already, and he pressed himself against her legs. "Leah…”

He bit down gently, and she slowly came awake, arching her back involuntarily. “Paul, what are you… oooh… doing?”

He soothed the little sore with precise flicks of his tongue. He asked, “What does it feel like?”

“Gooood,” she groaned. “So good.” She threaded her fingers through his hair. He tugged down the other cup and pinched her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger, stimulating it with the same rhythm as his mouth.

She smelled too much like Sam, so he roughly pulled her shirt over her head and slid his hands beneath her to unclasp her bra. After throwing the clothing aside, he lowered himself over her, relishing the contrasting sensations of the softness of her breasts and the stiffness of her nipples. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He eagerly absorbed her moans as he kissed her. Then he turned her head to the side and nipped at her sensitive neck, eliciting enticing little gasps from her. He licked along the small divots where Victoria’s fangs had pierced her, finding the skin unusually cool and hard. She stiffened at the contact, and he kissed and bit his way along her clavicle and down her arm. He proceeded to cover every available patch of skin with his scent, causing her to squirm against him, seeking more and more contact.

Finally, when she started to whisper his name, he gave in. He wanted to make her scream so loudly that they woke Sam. He pulled her shorts off, revealing a tiny scrap of black fabric. Was that what he thought it was? He palmed her hip, rolling her slightly to the over, and his mouth went dry as he looked at the delicious curve of her ass. The tiny panties served only as a frame to highlight her body.

“Is this for me?” he asked as he tipped her onto her back.

She cocked a brow. “Who else, Rachel? I know we were going to see her, but that wasn’t going to take all night. I knew you’d see it eventually.”

She slid her thumbs under the thin straps stretched over her hips, but he stopped her. “Leave it. I like it.” She obeyed him but reached out for the button of his shorts. He was tempted to plunge straight into her, but he knew from experience that the more he teased her, the louder she would be. So he put his hand on hers. “Not yet.” The more layers stayed between them, he more likely he was to maintain his self-control.

She pouted. “You didn’t wake me up just to tease me, did you?”

He smirked, “You’re the tease, not me. Bending over, showing me your tight, sexy ass all day, but over another man. Touching him. Whispering in his ear.”

Her pupils dilated. “Jealous?”

“Hell, yeah,” he admitted freely. “Your hands should be on me, not on him.”

She reached for his fly again. “So let me. I’ll use my hands, my mouth, my tongue.”

“Not yet,” he repeated, tempted though he was, pushing her hands back to the bed and parting her thighs as he knelt between her legs. “It’s my turn first. Stay still.” Paul pushed the little scrap of fabric to the side, baring her slit. Then he ran one thick finger through her folds, dipping inside her just far enough to lubricate the tip. She arched her back, and he moved his hand to her hip, pushing her back into the mattress. “Nuh uh. I told you to stay still.” She settled, frowning at him slightly, and he lightly traced along her labia, refusing to touch her where she wanted. She kept squirming, so he took his free hand and rolled her to the side again, tucking her leg up and spanking her bottom with a loud smack. She gasped, and he did it again. “I told you. Don’t move!”

When he pushed her onto her back, she was gaping at him with her mouth open and her eyes wide. But he knew she wasn’t angry, not at all. He could smell her reaction. The pheromones she gave off nearly undid him, but this was too good. Spanking her and fucking her in Sam’s house was an opportunity he couldn’t resist. He reminded her of his instruction. This time she stayed still, except for a slight trembling through her entire body. It aroused him on immensely, so he allowed it to continue. But when he finally plunged his finger inside her tight channel, and she arched off the bed with a low wail, he immediately removed his hand, flipped her back onto her side, and spanked her again. “What did I tell you?’ he asked.

“Not to move,” she answered shakily, but when he touched her, she didn’t even try not to squirm. She even tried to hold his hand in place so she could ride his finger.

“Oh, you’re a bad girl,” he growled, and he flipped her onto her stomach and gave her five more glancing blows. When he was done, her bottom was temptingly pink, she was clawing at the comforter, and she was gasping. But she still didn’t stop moving. Instead, she shifted her hips back and forth. In a few seconds, he realized what she was doing: trying to push her aching clitoris against the mattress. “No, no, no. Not yet. Not until I say so.” He tugged her up, sat on the edge of the bed, lowered her across his lap, and pinned her wrists behind her back with one hand. “Spread your legs.” She complied. In this position, she couldn’t stimulate herself at all. With his other hand, he palmed her beautiful ass. “If you follow my instructions, I’ll do this.” He plunged one finger into her, and she spasmed around him. “But if you don’t, this is all you get.” He pulled out and spanked her again.

Leah held still for several seconds, long enough that he thought she was going to behave. But then she started to wiggle again. “You’re really not going to obey, are you?” He spanked her five more times.

“No,” she answered shakily, and she squirmed again.

When he was done spanking her again, she was moaning, but she didn’t sound distressed in any way. He finally realized, “You like that a lot, don’t you? That’s why you’re moving around?”

“Y-yes,” she admitted. “I like it.”

“Fuck, baby,” he breathed, and he realized that his own patience wasn’t enough, not yet, not with her writhing in his lap, putting pressure on his own trapped cock. He was seconds away from tossing her onto her hands and knees and fucking her senseless, but he was afraid it would be over in seconds. And he hoped that Sam would either wake up and hear what they were doing, preferably for a very long, very tortuous time, or at least, see in their minds later how thoroughly Paul had dominated his ex-fiancée in one of his own beds. He swatted her bottom five more times, then lifted her up and lay her on her back against the pillows.

"I want you," she asked, reaching for him.

"Not yet," he refused. It would be over too soon. "I want you to touch yourself." It was one of his very favorite things to watch, but lacked the physical stimulation that would push him too close to the edge. She bit her bottom lip and reached down, but he stopped her again, leaning back on his heels to get a good view. "Play with those gorgeous tits first.”

Leah obliged, cupping the shapely weights in both palms. At his instruction, she massaged her own skin, pinched and tugged at her nipples, and twisted the tips gently. When she asked him to suck on them, he couldn't resist, so he crawled over her and tugged at them and suckled so hard that she nearly orgasmed. He pulled away moments before she peaked. In frustration, she tried to pull him down to her, but he deftly pinned her down, telling her that the more she disobeyed, the longer she would have to wait for relief. She fell back against to the pillows in frustration.

Next, Paul told her to spread her legs, then instructed her to pull the thin string of her panties aside so he could get a good look at her pussy. She was swollen, pink, and completely ready for him. He slid one finger along to the slick skin, but it was only a tease. He carefully avoided her clitoris and her small opening. "Lick one finger," he instructed. Then he allowed her to slowly circle her aroused clitoris, but he didn't let her touch it directly. When she tried, he grabbed her hand and gave her the tiniest bit of relief with one long, sensuous lick of his tone. His wolf purred, a deep, rumbling sound from his chest. She tried to hold his head in place, but he would not be restrained. "I want to watch you."

She pouted petulantly. "Then let me!"

So he did, but he made her go slowly, drawing it out. He released her wrists. "Just one finger inside that pretty little pussy."

She complied, tossing her head back with a groan and baring her long neck. He restricted her movements with his hands on hers, but she was soon close to the edge. He realized she was using the heel of her hand to grind against her clitoris and pulled it away. She started to protest, but stopped when she realized he was standing up. She looked hopeful when he shucked off his shorts, but instead of entering her, he kneeled in his original position and fisted his own shaft a few times. She began to crawl toward him. She was quite a sight, on all fours, lust clouding her eyes and licking her beautiful lips. "Let me taste you," she asked.

This time he couldn't resist her request. He threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her close. But before her lips reached him, he shifted so that his erection slid back and forth against the soft skin of her cheek. Then he grasped the base of his shaft and pressed the head into her eager, hot mouth. "Open," he commanded.

He slid straight into her throat. He held her there for several seconds, feeling the tension in her body as she tried to hold her breath. He knew he ought to release her, but any friction would send him over the edge, and he wasn’t ready yet. When he finally allowed her to pull away, he leaned back so far that he fell out of her mouth entirely. He tugged her up, kissing her ruthlessly, giving himself enough time to calm down. Then, when he was ready, he pushed her back down.

He controlled the depth with his hands in her hair, and the motion with the snapping of his hips, but she used the movement of her tongue, the force of her suction, and the rhythm of her small hand around his base to disarm him. He couldn’t hold back, and soon she swallowed every drop of salty semen that he gave her.

He didn’t soften at all, but he decided to reward her using his own oral skills. He pushed her onto her back and settled between her legs. This was one of his wolf’s favorite things, second only to burying his cock in her tight body. He didn’t tease her any longer, but plunged his tongue directly into her channel and drank of her. She was delicious. He couldn’t get enough. He would have stayed there longer, but she started to call out his name. “Oh god, Paul. Please…” Her fingernails dug into his scalp, and her hips writhed.

Paul knew what she wanted. He pulled away just far enough to get a good view, and he slid one finger inside her. As aroused as she was, and though both of them had already readied her passage, it was all that would fit without causing her pain. Her healing powers were finally restored after Victoria’s venom infected her, mending her broken bones and restoring every inch of her flesh to pristine condition. He slowly pumped his finger in and out, bending forward to lick delicately at the tip of her swollen clitoris just enough to make her crazy, but not enough to allow her release. He worked in a second finger and massaged, relishing the sounds of her whimpering brokenly. Now that his own lust was temporarily sated, he drew out her pleasure, taking her close to the edge, then pulling away. The longer he tortured her, the more explosive her orgasm would be.

By the time he withdrew his hand and crawled over her, her skin was flushed, she was covered in a fine layer of perspiration, and her entire body was shaking. She wrapped her arms around his torso and dug her fingers into his buttocks, trying to join their bodies, but he still wouldn’t cooperate. He locked his arms straight out, hands on either side of her head, and watched her face as he slowly dragged his shaft over her clitoris. She cried out, tipping her hips up in a vain attempt to increase the pressure, but he just smirked down at her. He dropped kisses over her cheeks, her lips, and down her neck until he was certain she wouldn’t orgasm at the slightest touch, and then he pressed his cock against her again, repeating the motion three more times.

Leah was on the verge of tears. When he pulled back again, she tried to grab the base of his cock so she could tip her hips up to meet him, but he intercepted her hand with a chuckle. “Now, none of that. When I’m ready.”

“Damn you,” she said, but her voice wasn’t nearly as forceful as she wanted. She tried to flip him onto his back so she could ride him, but pushed her back, threaded his fingers through hers and shoved her hands over her head. He repeated the tantalizing slide of his sex against her over and over, and in between, paused for her calm down.

Finally, she started to beg. She would have been embarrassed at the keening, broken tone of her voice as she said, “Please, Paul. Please. Please fuck me. Please make me come!”

And that was what he had been waiting for. He grinned a huge, victorious smile, released one of her hands, and tore off her panties. He stabilized his base with his fist, and ground against her until he started to feel the telltale shaking of her body. As she started to orgasm, he pushed inside her. He pressed his thumb to her lips, allowing her to lubricate the pad, and reached between their bodies to rub deliberate circles over her clitoris. He didn’t stop the stimulation as he advanced, inch by inch, feeling her impossibly tight walls contract in an unmistakable pattern.

By the time he was buried fully inside her, Leah was overwhelmed. She wasn’t certain how long it lasted, but for an endless moment, he didn’t move, except for the tender massage of his thumb. She tremored uncontrollably as he sat still, filling her with his cock, and working her clitoris with his thumb. She came, and she came, and she came.

When his desire to pleasure her was overcome by his own body’s irresistible mandate, he leaned over her and began to slowly, deliberately pound into her. She held on tight, grabbing at his broad shoulders, sliding her hands down his taut triceps, and kissing his chin, his collarbone, and his mouth when it was in reach. He gradually picked up his pace, sliding one hand down and keeping her still with his hand on her ass.

When he sat back on his heels, lifting her hips straight off the bed with his strong hands and yanking her onto him, all she could do was brace her hands against the headboard to stabilize herself against his assault. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her body as he slammed into her again and again, faster and faster. She wailed as he started to growl ferally. In his eyes, she saw Paul’s wolf staring down at her, but more than that, she saw his instinctual, raw love.

And when he leaned down, burying his face in her neck, she tilted her head back in submission. He didn’t break rhythm as he rode her mercilessly, but he inhaled deeply. Everything was perfect except for one thing: one part of her body was wrong. He ran his tongue along the cool flesh of Victoria’s scar, and she gasped. “Leah,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

She knew exactly what he was asking, though he had only said her name. “Paul, yes.”

It was happening again. The movement of his cock, the pressure of his hands, the tone of his voice, they were already sending her over the edge again. Her entire being was wracked with pleasure. Through her haze, though, she felt the tingling, sharp pleasure of his tongue on her skin.

She urged him, “Do it. Make me yours.”

And he didn’t think. He wanted it. His wolf wanted it. They wanted her. He bared his teeth and groaned her name one more time, and then he bit her flesh, covering Victoria’s scar with his own fresh wound.

Leah screamed, but it was a sound of ecstasy, not of pain. Her channel clamped around his shaft as never before, and they clung together as they were overcome. He had never felt anything like it, nor had she, and he hoped it would last forever.

It did not, of course, and when he finally became aware of himself again, he realized he was crushing her. He kissed her new wound gently, lapping at it with his tongue, and tried to climb off her, but she wouldn’t let him. “Stay,” she whispered.

So he gathered her close, rolled to the side, and left them tangled together. He grabbed the edge of the comforter that they lay on and tossed it over them in case someone stopped by, and when he kissed the top of her head, he realized she was asleep. “I’m not going anywhere, baby,” he told her quietly.

In the next room, he heard a deep cough and remembered he was in Sam’s house. He held her tighter and fell asleep hoping that Sam was beating himself up over what had just happened.

Sometime in the night, Leah left the warm bed to care for Sam. Paul was too tired to notice her absence until the next morning, when he found her in the living room. She must have fallen asleep while sitting with Sam. She was curled into the fetal position in the armchair. Paul was jealous that her ex had stolen her attention away, but claiming her in Sam's territory made up for it. Unfortunately, it didn't seem as if Sam was coherent enough to understand what had happened the night before, though Paul wasn't certain that on some level, he knew. He wasn't deaf, after all, and Leah reeked of sex and of him.

He nearly dragged her back into the bedroom for a repeat performance, or better yet, wanted to take her right in front of Sam, but she shooed him away. Taking his last final exam was more important than his petty plans for revenge. He reluctantly departed, but not before ensuring that Leah would not be left alone with Sam for long. The other man might not be in top form, but he was dangerous nonetheless. Paul called Sue on his way out the door. She didn't have a shift that day, and she agreed to come.

While Paul was busy acing his chemistry exam, Leah went to his house to shower and rest. As she stripped off her clothes, she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes zeroed in on the moon-shaped scar on her neck. A careful examination revealed two different sets of teeth marks. But now, when she touched her fingers to the spot, the skin was no longer unnaturally hard and cold. It radiated warmth, tingled, and made her feel more alive.

After a hot shower, breakfast, and a short nap, Leah still had a view hours before Paul would get home from school. She took the opportunity to visit Rachel.

Her friend greeted her at Billy's front door with an excited squeal and eight crushing hug. Then Rachel looked confused, patting along her arms. "I thought you broke yourself. I thought I'd find you in a full body cast or something."

"Nope. I'm all healed. Just got the cast off, and I feel great."

Rachel ushered her in and launched into an excited interrogation. She wanted to know everything. She was shocked at her brother's growth and sudden change in appearance, and she wondered how he and his best friends had sprouted up in synchrony. She was afraid that Quil had convinced them to use steroids. She had also heard rumors of Emily's departure, and she wanted to know exactly what had happened. She said, "I'm so glad that bitch is out of your life, but what the fuck? She swoops in, steals your man, and then walks off without an explanation? What the hell? And I hate to even ask, but what's going on with Sam? I know I heard his name when my brother was rushing out of here yesterday. Did you go over there? I saw you coming up the driveway, but then you abandoned me! And I've been waiting to see you for so long! And was that your boyfriend in the car with you? I barely caught a glimpse, but damn! If that was him, you totally traded up! Except for being a cradle robber, anyway. You freaking cougar! Tell me everything!"

Leah didn't even know where to start. There was so much she wanted to tell her friend, but most of it was off-limits. She started by apologizing for her unusual departure the previous day. Before she could say something she wasn't supposed to, Billy called out from the kitchen, "Sam passed out and hit his head. Your friend the nurse was kind enough to go check on him."

Rachel asked, "And your new boyfriend took you to take care of your old boyfriend?"

"I needed to stay over there because he had a concussion, so somebody had to check on him all night long." Leah smirked. "So Paul and I slept over together."

Rachel put her fingers up in air quotes. "Slept?" And the girls broke down in giggles. Rachel wanted to hear all about Paul, so Leah obliged.

She talked about his refreshing bluntness and his raw honesty. She said that he had provided her with unexpected but unwavering support since she returned to the reservation, but had never coddled her. He respected her, and she grew to respect him. She spoke of how passionate he was, how devoted. Everyone underestimated him, even her, in the beginning. It was easy to make assumptions about him, coming from a broken home and bearing a well-deserved reputation as a womanizer. But he wasn't a stereotype, and he would not be forced into the caricature most people believed him to be. As she talked, she painted a picture of a complex, caring, and ultimately brilliant man.

“Oh, wow,” Rachel breathed. “You’re in love! I can see it. You’re in love!”

Leah almost blushed. “Yeah. I am. We are.”

Rachel leaned forward excitedly. “Did he say it? Did you say it? How did it happen? I want to know details!”

“Well, it was just another day. Nothing special was going on. We were just studying, and we started talking about the future, and we, um, decided to move to Pullman together…”

Rachel squealed out loud. “Yes! I was hoping! Oh my gosh, I’ve missed you so much! We can all hang out, and we’ll show him around, and when we go out together, I won’t have to compete with you for the hot guys, because you’ll be taken! And he can make the creeps go away. It’ll be perfect!”

Leah laughed. “That sounds amazing, Rach. You guys are going to get along great. I know it.”

“I really want to meet him, or get to know him. I mean, the last time I saw him, he was just some punk kid. Obviously he’s grown up a lot!”

“He has,” Leah agreed. “He’s amazing.”

“But you didn’t finish your story. How did he tell you he loves you? Or did you say it first?”

Leah let the memory wash over her. She couldn’t hide her smile. “No, he did. I wasn’t expecting it at all. We were talking about Pullman, like I said, and we had never talked about anything like it before. But we kind of decided to find a place together, which was a big enough surprise in the first place, but it still seemed perfect as soon as we figured it out. And then, well, he just said it. I don’t think he even knew he was going to say it before it came out of his mouth. But I don’t doubt for a second that he meant it.”

“Aww!” Rachel cooed. “That’s the best way! Not some stupid, sappy, rom-com setup. Just honesty. Lee, you look so happy!”

“I am happy. Really, really happy.”

Rachel grabbed her into a tight hug. “I’m so glad! What happened, all that shit, it was just so bad. So unbelievably bad. One thing after another. But look at you now! You’re such a good person. You deserve something good. Sam lost his goddamn mind, and the best thing that ever happened to him, when he broke up with you, and I’ll bet he’s just stewing in regret right now. But you? You don’t ever have to deal with that stick-in-the-mud ever again. It all worked out. I don’t know Paul, but if he makes you this happy, I like him already. He’s obviously good for you, and that’s all I care about.”

Leah teared up listening to her friend’s words. She returned Rachel’s embrace wholeheartedly. She had missed this, missed her friend’s energy, positivity, and warmth. “Thanks, honey. I missed you so much,” she said.

They released each other. “Me too. But now you’re both coming, and we’ll be the three musketeers or something! It’ll be great!”

As they were grinning at each other, a knock sounded from the front of the house. Rachel stood, looking out the living room window. She spotted a pickup truck she had seen once before. “Oh, talk about timing. He’s here!” She threw open the front door. “It’s Paul, right? Were your ears burning? We were just talking about you!”

Leah stood next to her friend and reached for Paul, but he didn’t give her hand. She called his name, but he didn’t answer. He wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at Rachel, and what she saw on his face made Leah’s heart freeze.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my beta, Babs81410.


	33. Free Will

"This cannot be happening," Leah whispered. The expression on Paul's face was painfully familiar; she had seen it on Sam’s face the day he imprinted on Emily. Paul looked blank. His mouth hung open slightly, and his eyes were wide and fixed. He was gone. "Not again."

She didn't realize she had spoken out loud until Rachel asked, "What? Is something wrong?"

Pressure surrounded Leah’s chest, sudden and crushing. She had to force herself to breathe. She shook her head and stumbled to the door. There was no question in her mind what had just happened. Once again, she was watching the man she loved lose himself to her best friend. She couldn't do it again. She wouldn't do it again. "He'll tell you, Rach. I have to go." She squeezed between them and started to walk away, forcing herself to take even, measured steps. Though she wanted to run, to flee, she still had her pride. She would walk away with her dignity intact and break down when she was alone.

"What? Where are you going?" Rachel called out, but Leah kept going.

She ignored her friend's confusion. There was no reason to stay. Paul would tell her everything, and Billy was there to help. As she picked up her pace, she curled her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms so hard that she drew blood, and she focused on the pain. She deserved it. She berated herself for being so stupid. She could focus on her anger for now. It would fuel her to move forward and hold her up against the tide of despair that threatened to overwhelm her. She was smarter than this, wasn’t she? She didn’t think of herself as a stupid person, but the evidence was clear. She had known better, but she allowed herself to fall for Paul anyway. “Fool me once, shame on you,” she muttered under her breath. “Fool me twice…”

Before she could get any farther, Rachel caught up with her, grabbing her elbow. “Leah? What’s wrong?”

Leah tried to shake her off. "Go home. Just go home. Paul will explain, him and your dad. I have to go.”

“Go where? No,” Rachel refused. “You explain it yourself! I don’t want to talk to Paul. I don't know the guy. I want to talk to you!”

Leah turned toward her, inadvertently revealing the angry, despairing tears that had welled up in her eyes. She looked up at the sky, willing them not to fall until she was alone. “I won't stay here to watch this. I can’t, okay? I just can’t. It’s too much.”

“What’s too much?” Rachel demanded. “I don’t understand. One second ago, we were literally talking about how happy you are, and now this?” She looked back to Paul, who had only moved just enough to stare at her.

Leah yanked her arm free. “It’ll make sense after they explain, okay? I just can’t stay here to watch it. Once they tell you, you’ll understand.”

“They? Who are 'they'? You’re not making any sense! And why would you leave your boyfriend here with me?”

As she started walking away again, Leah choked out, “He’s not my boyfriend anymore.”

Rachel was becoming exasperated. “What? Since when?”

What stopped Leah wasn’t Rachel’s question, but Paul’s. He stepped forward, rising out of his stupor. In a confused, tentative voice, he asked, “I’m not? Leah? Leah?”

It was loud enough for Rachel to hear. She ran back to the house and grabbed his hand, dragging him out. “I don’t know what the hell just happened, but unless I just blacked out temporarily, I didn’t hear you guys break up. So go get your crazy girlfriend and bring her back here!” She physically pushed him toward Leah.

She looked up at him in a mixture of terror, anguish, and the tiniest bit of hope. “Paul?” she ventured.

He didn’t hesitate. “Come back. Come with me, baby,” he said gently. Her eyes widened at the endearment, but then her brow furrowed in confusion. Internally, he wondered if he would be able to keep calling her that, but it felt natural, so he did it. Likewise, touching her was instinctive, so he did that too. He reached for Leah’s hand and twined her fingers with his. Something had broken apart inside him, and he didn’t know if he could put it back together, but somehow, he felt that Leah could help him.

A tear rolled down her cheek, and she used her balled up fist to swipe it away. “Don’t call me that,” she said. It was the same tone she used when Sam tried to call her Lee Lee.

Paul took her fist and surrounded it in his larger hand. “Just try to stop me.” He teased her out of habit, but also because it felt like the kind of thing he would say. He wasn’t sure if he was still supposed to speak in the same kind of tone he was used to, but nothing else came to mind, so he blurted it out.

The affection in his voice stopped her more abruptly than his hands, but she knew he was only prolonging the inevitable. "Don't do this," Leah begged him.

But he would not be swayed. “Come on.” He pulled her back toward the house, and toward Rachel.

The other girl was like a magnet. Now that she was in his line of sight again, he couldn’t look away from her. She was quite beautiful, standing there with her hands on her hips and a perplexed, frustrated expression on her face. He was irresistibly drawn to her, and there was no doubt in his mind that he had imprinted on her. It was a fact known to him in the same way he knew his own name. She was suddenly a part of him. But so was Leah. Beyond that, he did not know what would happen next.

He wondered why his emotions were so calm. He ought to feel something: exhilaration, joy, hope, fear, anxiety, something. He felt none of these things, not for Rachel, at any rate. For her, he simply waited. But somewhere beneath the still surface, he felt turmoil. Yet he was unable to fully access those feelings. He felt dulled. Drugged.

She stepped aside to let them back in. Billy had wheeled himself into the living room. He asked Paul, "Did you just imprint on my daughter?"

"Yes," he said simply.

As Billy's face fell, he heard Leah's sharp intake of breath beside him. She already knew what happened, but hearing it made it even more real. Rachel spun on her heel to face them. "What? What did you do?" It was an accusation.

He started to explain, but Leah beat him to it. "He imprinted on you. Apparently my boyfriend is your... your soulmate, chosen by the spirits." She had heard the description a hundred times over, and she spat out the rehearsed line like a curse.

Rachel's jaw dropped open, and she looked at Leah as if she had sprouted a second head. "You can't be serious. Imprinting, like out of those old legends? I hate to break it to you guys, but those stories aren't real."

Billy sighed heavily. "Actually they are. Paul imprinted on you."

"That's ridiculous!" She had listened to enough of her father's stories that the term wasn't completely foreign to her, but she had forgotten the nuances. Leah had used the word "soulmate", though, which she knew was completely absurd. "You did not just do that," she told Paul.

Her father urged, "Sit down, all of you. We need to talk."

"Not me," Leah said untangling Paul's hand from hers. "I don't need to hear this again. I've sat through the stories enough times to tell them myself, and there is no reason for me to be here."

Billy was torn, not wanting Leah to be alone, but knowing it was cruel to make her stay. Rachel, on the other hand, demanded her presence. "Oh, no you don't. You are not leaving me here with these two. He is your boyfriend, not mine!" Then she grabbed Leah's hand away from Paul and yanked her down beside her on the couch. "You're staying!"

While Billy reminded his daughter of the tribe's history, Leah tried to focus on the rhythm of her breathing. She attempted to tune out everything else: Billy's words, the sensation of Rachel's grip on her hand, Paul's eyes upon her. Why was he looking at her rather than at his imprint? Was he waiting for her to crack, to snap, to show how painfully her heart was breaking? She didn't want to look at him, but he sat in the chair directly across from her, and unless she closed her eyes, she was forced to see him. He perched on the edge of the chair, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped. His expression was calm but concerned, and focused on her. From time to time, his eyes darted to Rachel, but his attention remained on Leah. She didn’t know what to make of it. She finally ducked her head, letting her hair fall over her eyes as a poor shield, and stared at the floor.

Beside her, Rachel wasn't nearly so calm. She tapped her foot throughout Billy's account of Taha Aki's transformation into a wolf. When he recounted the legend of the Third Wife, she grew impatient. When he described the way Taha Aki's sons inherited his shapeshifting abilities, she became agitated.  When he claimed that Cold Ones were not only real, but had moved to Forks, she laughed out loud. "Dad, have you lost your mind?" She turned to Leah. "Did you know this was happening? Did you realize my dad thinks this is all true?" At her friend's nod, she yelled, "Why didn't you tell me? I'd have come home sooner, gotten him help. Does my brother know?"

Leah cleared her throat shakily and decided to cut to the chase. Billy's stories were important context, but he was taking too long. If they were going to force her to stay, she wouldn't let them drag out her torture. "Of course he does. Your dad's not crazy. And your brother is one of us, a protector, a wolf. Jacob's the Alpha, the leader of the pack."

Leah could see it the very second that Rachel understood. She blinked incredulously, shaking her head. "Did you just say, 'one of us'? You did, didn't you?" At Leah's nod, she burst out, "You've all lost your damn minds! What happened here? Did you all start smoking something together? Or has everyone here just gone nuts?"

Leah sighed. "Yes, they have. We have. But it's still true." She knew Rachel wouldn't believe it until she saw with her own eyes, so she stood. "Come on. I'll show you."

"You cannot be serious!"

"Just watch," Billy instructed.

Billy stayed on the porch with Paul. Leah told Rachel to wait in the yard, but Rachel refused. She followed Leah into the trees. "I've seen you practically naked before, honey, when we were roommates. Your girly parts don't scare me. And if you're going to show me, well, show me!"

So Leah undressed and handed her clothes to Rachel, then moved a safe distance away. With a painless tremor, she transformed. Rachel stopped breathing, and Leah sat on her haunches and watched her best friend. Thankfully, she was alone in the pack mind. Jacob still had them running patrol three times a day, but not continuously. They lapped the border a few times as a precaution. Through the day, they were on alert, but they prioritized school and work over patrolling. Leah remembered that the next shift actually belonged to Paul, and she wondered if he would go. Surely his new imprint trumped his other duties. Emily and Kim had always taken precedence over everything and everyone else.

Leah was tempted to run away. Paul wouldn't leave Rachel to come after her, not now, and no one else would notice or try to stop her. Even if they did, she was faster than all of them. But before she could decide where to go, Rachel approached with her hands extended. She was trembling just slightly, but unmistakably reaching for Leah. The other girl stood close, very close, and finally reached out to touch the side of her head. Leah didn't move.

Rachel ventured, "Holy shit! Oh my god. Leah? Oh wow. It's really you, isn't it?" Leah tipped her head in acknowledgment. Rachel began to stroke the thick, soft fur behind Leah's ear, and then she said the last thing Leah expected to hear. "This is amazing! You're beautiful!" Leah turned to look at her friend, and saw from the awed, guileless expression on her face that she was completely sincere.

Behind them, Paul approached. "She is, isn't she? As a woman and as a wolf. Gorgeous." Then he began to run his hand down her flank. The sensation startled her. Although they had played together, fought together, even affectionately curled up together as wolves, he had never touched her animal form with his human one. It felt good. Too good. Leah shrank away. She shouldn't get used to it. She ought to do the opposite. She needed to get used to being alone.

Leah couldn't look at Paul. She didn't want his pity. Despite the raw tenderness in his voice and the gentle nature of his touch, she felt only pain. He wasn't detachedly, coldly cruel like Sam had been. He had already focused more attention on her, more concern, than the first man who broke her heart. He was being very sweet, very affectionate, but she recognized it for what it really was. It was a loving goodbye.

She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold it together. Only an hour ago, she had been so hopeful, so happy. Some of her optimism was born from the renewal of her plans and her upcoming return to college, but Paul's unexpected decision to accompany her had thrilled her. Maybe in time she would be grateful that he imprinted now, before they were able to firmly establish themselves and further intertwine their lives, but for now, she simply wanted to break down. But she didn't want to do it in front of them. For a lingering moment, she leaned into Paul's touch, savoring it one last time, and then she darted away.

Rachel had dropped her clothing in her surprise. Leah grabbed it in her teeth and moved behind a copse of bushes. When she was certain she was out of sight, she started to run. She had no destination in mind, but she had to get away. Rachel didn't realize what was happening, but Paul heard her retreating gallop. He ran forward and frantically called out her name.

Rachel asked, "What's going on? Where is she going?"

Paul told her, "Running. She's running."

Rachel didn't hesitate. Incredulously, she snapped at Paul, "Then what are you doing just standing there? Go after her! You can't just let her go."

Paul didn't wait for her to finish. As soon as she started to speak, he took off. "I'll get her."

Rachel called after him, "She needs you! Don't leave her alone!"

It was exactly what he wanted to hear. Before Rachel issued her instruction, he felt strangely paralyzed, but he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to be with Leah. He wanted to soothe her fears, hold her close, and remind her that he loved her. He just couldn't figure out how to do it. An invisible force closed his lips and held his tongue. But now he had the opportunity to show her how he really felt. He stripped off his clothes as soon as he was out of sight, and he phased. _Leah?_

She didn't give him a chance to talk. She didn't think she could stand to be in his brain. She thought it was cruel to force her to experience the imprint through his mind. _Go away. Please don't do this to me._

_No way in hell am I just letting you go. Slow down._

_Why? So Billy can remind me about how perfect imprinting is it? So I can listen to him say how it's a gift from our gods? No thank you. I'm not coming back._

He reassured her, _You don't have to come back. Just slow down. Let me catch up to you._

_I can't think of a single good reason to do that. Just go, okay? Don't drag this out any longer than you have to. Just go back to her, and tell her that… that…_ Leah tried to figure out what to tell her best friend. She couldn't even figure out what to say to Paul, and he understood what was going on. She wasn't even really angry at him. She was hurt. _I know it wasn't your fault, okay? But you can't expect me to be cool about it. You have to give me some time, some space._

Paul vehemently disagreed. _That's the last thing you need. It's the last thing I need. I'm not going anywhere, and I'll chase after you for as long as it takes, so you may as well slow down and spare us both the trouble._

Leah saw his intent. He meant it quite literally. Rachel had instructed him not to leave her alone, so he was going to follow her until instructed otherwise. It was horrifying. He was losing his free will, and she was being forced to watch. He had been terrified he would lose himself if he imprinted, and it was happening right now. _Christ. I know what she told you, but you don't actually have to do it, okay? Or do you want be her slave the way Sam turned into Emily's bitch?_

_Of course not!_

_So fight it! Just try. Try not to do this one thing. Do it for your sake, not for mine._

He didn't know whether to laugh or to yell at her, so he did both. _You crazy bitch, I don't want to fight to get away from you. I'll fight to stay with you! So either wait for me, or I'll chase you until you can't run any more._

_You honestly think you can outrun me?_ she challenged.   
  
_Stop arguing with me, damn it! You don't actually want to be alone, and I don't want to be apart from you, so stop trying to push me away. I know you didn't stop caring about me. You know how I know? Because I can feel it. And you can feel me too. I love you! I'm fucking in love with you, okay? I know you're afraid that I stopped just because I imprinted, but it's not true. I'm every bit as in love with you as I was two hours ago, so stop running!_

Leah wanted badly to believe him, but she had been burned too badly. _I know you think that, but everything just changed. Everything. It's not your fault, and you didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. Ignoring it isn't going to make it go away._

_I'm not trying to pretend it didn't happen. I'm just telling you that it didn't erase my feelings. I'm out here with you because I want to be._

She corrected him. _You're out here because Rachel told you to follow me. If she hadn't told you to come, you would still be standing back there._

He was afraid she was right, but he refused to admit it. _Whether or not that's true, it doesn't change how I feel. I want to be with you. Don't you see that? Can't you feel it? These aren't empty words. Look inside me. You don't have to take my word for it. You can read my mind! I love you._

And it was true. His emotions were so strong that she could feel them like physical sensations. It was overwhelming and overpowering. It almost stopped her, but her fear was too great. She couldn't believe it would last. _Sam thought he still loved me too, after everything, after getting engaged to Emily and treating me like I was nothing, acting like I was worthless. He still turned around and told me we were supposed to be together forever. He thinks that's love even though he imprinted on someone else. I need that kind of love like I need a bullet to the heart._

He cut her off before she could say anything else. _God damn it, I am not Sam! I'm nothing like that abusive asshole! Don't you dare compare us to each other!_

_How could I not? Look, I know you're not trying to hurt me. You're not trying to be cruel. But it's not your choice. It's not under your control. I can't do this again, okay? I can't. It's too much. Please, just leave me alone._

He felt pain radiating off her in waves. She was trying so hard to hold herself together, but she didn't know how much longer she could bend before she would break. She desperately wanted to be alone before she shattered. He refused to let that happen. Her heartbreak was his heartbreak. Losing her would destroy him. It would be as inevitable and irreversible as anything the imprint could do to him. _I'm staying,_ he insisted. _If I have to follow you for 1000 miles and yell it in your brain until you go mad, I will. I'm not going to stop telling you I love you, because it's true._

When she realized he was not going to leave her alone no matter what she said or how far she ran, she did the only thing she could think of to throw him out. She phased into her human body. It got rid of his voice in her brain, but it didn't get rid of him. She was the fastest on four legs, but she couldn't outpace him on two. Soon he caught up to her, and before she could cover herself, he had her. He wrapped his strong, insistent arms around her from behind, and he refused to let go. "I love you, Leah, and I'm not going anywhere."  
  
She hadn't stopped to dress, more concerned about flight than about modesty, and she wondered if this would be the last time he would touch her bare flesh. She started to crumble, so he held her up. As she fought the tears threatening to fall from her eyes, she begged, "Don't make me watch it. Don't make me stay here and watch the two of you. Please don't do that to me."

He held her tighter. "If anyone has to watch anyone else, she'll have to watch us, okay? You're stuck with me whether you like it or not."

She tried to squirm away from him, but his grip was too strong. She tried to hold her voice steady, but it broke against her will. "Look, I appreciate that you're not ditching me the very second you imprint. But you shouldn't say things like that, because you and I both know that it's not up to you. It sure as fuck isn't up to me. It's not like you have a choice, so don't make me any promises you can't keep."

He growled directly into her ear, "Don't tell me what I can and cannot do. Don't tell me how I feel. I love you every bit as much as I did this morning. Can't you feel it? Yeah, I also sort of feel like a grenade exploded about two feet from my head, and I have no fucking clue what's going on with Rachel, but I know how I feel about you. So if you give up on us, that's on you, not on me." When she didn't respond, trembling and holding her own forearms so rigidly that he thought she would bruise herself, he harshly whispered, "Fuck, Leah. I thought you had my back. But now you're going and breaking my heart."

Leah finally heard him. The vulnerability in his voice pierced through the swirling chaos of her emotions, and she stopped struggling. She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Oh, Paul." He clung as tightly to her as she to him. Now that she was no longer trying desperately to get away, she processed what he had said to her. She allowed herself to feel what he had felt, and she realized that he was just as frightened as she was, if not more. "What happens to us now? What happens to you?"

"I have no idea. But don't you dare leave me here to deal with it by myself." He thought he sounded pathetic, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He would beg if only it made her stay. He buried his nose in her hair and repeated, "Don't run from me."

"I'm sorry," she admitted. "I just don't know if I can handle this again."

He pulled away so he could look her in the eye, so she could see how serious he was. "It won't be like it was with him. I'm not Sam. I'm not back there panting after my imprint. I got blindsided, yeah, but I didn't forget about you. I didn't stop caring about you. I didn't stop wanting you. I'm here with you, which is exactly where I want to be."

She wanted to believe him, but once upon a time, Sam had loved her truly and wholeheartedly. When he imprinted, it fundamentally changed both of them. It made him cruel, possessive, and twisted, while it damaged Leah’s trust irreparably. "For how long, though?"

"For as long as you'll have me! Don't push me away."

She gently touched his cheeks with the tips of her fingers, and he leaned into her hand. "I want to trust you, believe me. But the decision isn't even yours. Not really. What happens isn't up to either of us."

When she dropped her hand, he grabbed it and held it tightly. "The fuck it isn't. I refuse to believe that. I decide what I do with my life, not the spirits, not some invisible force. I know what I want. I want you." He traced his free hand up her arm, over her shoulder, and lightly gripped the side of her neck. With his thumb, he traced along the mark he had branded in her skin. "I chose you. I claimed you. And I'm not giving you up."

Leah knew he meant it. After all, she knew him. This was Paul. He was honest to the point of callousness, blunt to the point of rudeness. He simply didn't have it in him to lie. In this moment, he meant every word. What she didn't know was whether he would still feel this way tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that. As he ducked his head to replace his thumb with his lips, she let out an involuntary moan. What he was doing felt too good to ignore, and his words were too close to her heart to deny. She stopped resisting. After all, it was futile to fight. She already loved him, and there was no way to go back even if she wanted to. She returned his embrace and said softly, "All right."

He let out a small sob of relief, and he clutched her as tightly as he could. "Thank you. I won't let you down. I won’t. I won’t hurt you, and I won’t let you go. I’m not just going to fight for you. I’m going to win. Do you hear me?"

She was glad he didn't ask her if she believed him, because he wouldn't have liked her answer. But she believed that he would try, and for now, that was enough. "I do."

"I won't lose you, not now, not because of this." He paused and glanced at her appraisingly. "I'm perfectly capable of fucking things up all on my own. I don't need the imprint to do it for me."

She laughed despite herself, and his answering grin was huge and relieved. He was thrilled to put a smile on her face. "I don't know about that. You're not giving yourself enough credit. You've been pretty amazing so far."

"See? You've got nothing to worry about. I'm amazing." As he stood, he held his hand out for her to take, and he pulled her to her feet. Then he kissed her with soft, searching, loving lips, belying his cocky words.

She allowed herself the luxury of burrowing into his chest and tucking her head under his chin, and she softly admitted, "You are kind of amazing."

He dropped a kiss onto the crown of her head. "Not as amazing as you. C'mon. Let's go."

Much to Paul's chagrin, they spent another night in Sam's cabin. He would have greatly preferred to take her back to his house, but Sam's condition had not improved. In fact, Sue said he was worse. When they entered, she was about to defy the council’s orders and take him to the hospital. As soon as Leah walked in the door, however, Sam settled down. He recognized Leah and even agreed to take some broth when she sat him up and spooned it into his mouth. Sue said the difference was enormous.  The entire time they were gone, he moaned, thrashed, and writhed. He alternated between delirium and unconsciousness, regaining coherency only when Leah returned. Since his status deteriorated every time she left, she felt obliged to stay. Soon he fell into a fitful sleep clutching her hand. When his fingers relaxed enough to release her, she returned to Paul's arms.

Sam woke up briefly when the phone rang. It was Rachel. “I didn’t believe it when my dad said I might find you there. What the hell are you doing at your ex’s place?”

“Trust me, I'd rather not be. It’s complicated.” Leah didn’t have the energy to explain further, nor did understand what was going on, so all she said was, “He’s sick.”

Rachel huffed, “Serves the bastard right! Let him rot in his own juices, and you come back and talk to me!”

Leah leaned against the wall and slid down until she was sitting on the floor. “I can’t.”

“You mean you won’t,” Rachel accused. "I can't believe you didn't tell me what was going on! We're friends, and we've known each other forever. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't, Rach. It's not allowed."

Rachel scoffed. "Like you ever let stupid rules stop you."

"But this rule isn't stupid. People can't know about us. We'd get carted off, experimented on, or worse, if people knew about us. Besides, I wanted to tell you. I literally couldn't."

"I know," Rachel admitted. "I'm just freaked out. You just dropped the biggest fucking bomb on me, and then you ran off!”

Under normal circumstances, Leah might have felt guilty. But these were not normal circumstances. “Yeah, well, after what happened with Paul, can you blame me?”

“I don’t know!” Rachel was basically yelling at this point, so Leah had to hold the phone away from her ear. “You didn’t stick around to explain anything, so I have no idea! Besides, who cares about your stupid boys. You’re a fucking werewolf, Leah. A werewolf!”

Leah didn’t know what to say, so she halfheartedly clarified, “A shapeshifter. I’m a shapeshifter.”

Rachel snorted. “Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. That’s so besides the point! You’re a wolf! And my brother is a wolf! And your boyfriend, and your ex, and fuck, is everyone a wolf? You cannot just say that and take off! I mean, fuck, am I going to be a wolf too? Seems like it’s catching!”

“I… I don’t think so.” The possibility had never occurred to Leah. “But I guess I don’t know. Nobody thought I’d turn into one…”

“See?” Rachel yelled. “This is insane!”

“I won’t argue with that.”

“And you left!”

Leah admitted, “I did… Um, sorry? Wait, why am I sorry? I think I’m allowed to freak out when my boyfriend imprints on my best friend. Again!”

Paul dropped onto the floor and sat across from her, staring at her. He simultaneously looked confused, apologetic, and riveted by her conversation.

Rachel snapped, “And I'm allowed to freak out when I find out practically everyone I know can grow fur! Who cares about boyfriends? You’re a god damned wolf! You’re all wolves! Boy problems are small potatoes, honey!” Then she immediately apologized. “Shit, sorry. I get that it’s important. It’s just, my mind is fucking blown right now. I can’t wrap my brain around this.”

“That’s fair. I’ve had a lot longer to get used to it, and I still haven’t. And it’s happening to me.”

Rachel sighed. “Sounds like a lot of shit has happened to you recently. I guess some things make more sense now, like why you didn’t come back to school.”

“Been kinda busy…”

Paul mumbled, “Understatement of the century.”

Now Rachel laughed. “No shit! You’re going to have to tell me everything now, you know that, right?”

Without thinking, Leah blurted out, “I would love to.” And she found that it was true. She had desperately missed her best friend, and she hated keeping secrets from her. “Maybe not right now, but…”

“That’s probably good. I can’t handle any more right now… Unless you have something to tell me about unicorns or leprechauns?”

“No such luck,” Leah chuckled. Paul grinned at her, but several feet away, Sam started to groan. Paul wanted to smother him with a pillow, but he settled for trying to toss a small cushion at him instead. Leah slapped it out of the air and frowned down at him. Paul gave her a falsely innocent shrug. “Uh, Rach? I think I have to go.”

Rachel sounded disappointed. “Oh, okay. But you’ll talk to me soon?”

“Soon.”

“You promise?”

Leah smiled involuntarily. Rachel was nothing if not persistent. “I promise.”

“Good. And Leah?”

“Yeah?”

Rachel paused, trying to figure out how to say what she meant. “We’ll fix this Paul thing, okay?” Her words triggered a genuine smile on Leah's face. Paul leaned over to kiss it, which made her smile even more.

He waited impatiently while Leah settled Sam again, and then he pulled her back toward him, savoring the moment. He felt more centered now than he had since imprinting on Rachel. He knew exactly what to do to next. He led Leah back into Sam's guest room, and he reminded her how he felt about her.

Paul was tender and passionate in equal measure, drawing it out as long as he could. With his tongue, he traced delicate paths over the body he lusted after like no other. With his lips, he showed her how dedicated he was to her pleasure. With his hands, he told her how much he cherished her. With his sex, he gave himself to her. With his whole body, he promised her that this would not be their last time together. Far from it. He wanted a new beginning for them, not an end.

At first she returned his touch tentatively. Gradually, though, his careful, devoted attention wore her down. Soon she was so lost in the moment that she forgot her surroundings. The events of the day receded into memory. For a time, Leah gave up her fear, and sensation ruled. It was an affirmation for both of them. As they moved together, Paul felt the broken, disparate pieces of himself coalescing again. Joined with her, he felt entirely whole.

Afterward, when he gathered her close against him and her breathing had evened out, and he thought she was asleep, he could no longer ignore the bizarre, frightening pull in his gut that connected him to a near-stranger. It gripped his soul and tugged at his brain. To ground himself, he reminded himself of where he was and who he was with, breathing her name over and over again like a mantra. "Leah. Leah."

Through her dream, she heard him calling to her. She didn't fully wake, but nonetheless she registered the fearful, desperate tone of his voice. It pulled her to consciousness, and she chastised herself for fleeing from him earlier in the day. As anguished as she was over his imprint, it was he, not her, who was truly at risk. She was afraid of his absence, of pain, of betrayal, of heartbreak. But his heart was on the line, too. He still loved her. She knew it. He was terrified of losing her, but worse yet, he feared that he was losing himself. He, too, had witnessed Sam’s abrupt and devastating transformation, and he was horrified that such a thing was happening to him.

She knew what he needed to hear. In the darkness, in his arms, with his warm, solid body pressed against hers, she achieved a measure of clarity. She needed to set aside her fear so that she could address his. She remembered that she was strong, even more so when she was by his side. "I’m sorry. I won’t run any more. I do love you, Paul, and I'll help you. I won't let you forget yourself. I'll fight for you too.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my fantastic beta, Babs81410.


	34. Awakening

"I don wanna go..." Paul mumbled into her shoulder, where he had woken up. He snaked his hand from her belly to her waist and squeezed her gently. "Too comfy."

Leah ran her fingers through his hair. It made his scalp tingle pleasantly. "You'd better, if you want to graduate on Friday. Besides, do you actually have anything to do today?"

He felt something wet against his cheek and realized he had drooled all over her. He tried unsuccessfully to wipe it away with his hand. "Er, sorry 'bout that." She just giggled at him. "You're right. I think we're watching movies and playing cards. No one is going to try to get us to do any work now that finals are all over."

"You have a serious case of senioritis, don't you?"

"Good thing school's almost out." He yawned hugely. "How 'bout you. Up to anything today?"

"Just babysitting Sam. My mom has to work, so I guess it's my job." She listened to the snores coming from the next room. "Still asleep, I guess. We'll see if he's any better today. Rose is going to come check him out if he isn't."

Paul snorted. "He'll love that, a leech in his house. Serves him right. He doesn't deserve to have you here waiting on him hand and foot. How about if I spit in his food? Or maybe mix laxatives into his drink?"

She snickered. "If I wasn't the one who'd have to clean up the mess, I'd tell you to go for it." She stopped moving her hand and asked, "Do you want to talk to Rachel today?"

He shrugged. “If she wants to see me, she’ll find me.” After a pause, he added, “I’m pretty sure she wants to talk to you, not me."

"Maybe," she said skeptically.

He squeezed her hip. "No, I can tell. She doesn't want to talk to me. I kind of know it."

"You can feel that?"

"Uh huh." He didn't particularly want to talk about Rachel, or think of her. He snuggled closer to Leah and kissed below her ear, but she was thinking too hard to notice.

She spoke in an overly-casual tone. "I thought it was supposed to be really painful to be away from an imprint. That's what Jared and Sam always told us, and what the stories said too. Does it hurt?"

"Nah," he said honestly. "But Jared's pussywhipped, and Sam's a lying douchebag. Don't believe anything he says."

"But he's a wreck right now," Leah pointed out. "I have to believe it has something to do with Emily being gone, because we really don't get sick, not in the traditional sense."

He wanted to discuss Sam even less than he wanted to think about Rachel, but he knew it was bothering her, so he answered, "But he was also fine for the first few days after she left, and the shit she said, well, I thought it would have wrecked him. But he was okay at first. Jared thinks it was because Emily didn't want him anymore, so she basically threw him away. I believe it." Especially now that he could feel Rachel's emotions toward him wavering between indifference and worry, which made it very easy to stay away from her. "Maybe now Emily wants him to suffer, so he is. I'll bet she realized her money's gone, and now she's making him pay."

"That's horrible," Leah breathed. "Was she always that awful? Did I miss it somehow?"

"Fucker deserves it, as far as I'm concerned," Paul muttered into her shoulder. Then he kissed away his words and ran his fingertips up and down her bare belly, trying to regain her attention.

But her mind was still stuck on imprinting. "But you're sure you're okay? I don't want you to hurt because you're apart from Rachel."

He finally rose up on his elbows, tipping her chin so that she was looking right at him. "Do I look like I'm in pain? I'm exactly where I want to be, okay? Here in bed with you."

She gave him a tentative smile, but it didn't reach her eyes, and a small furrow marred her brow. "I have to say, I just don't get it. You did imprint, didn't you?"

He sighed. "I definitely did. There's no question. And yeah, she seems really important, but not in the way that I just need to be with her. More like, I need to know she's okay. And she is. I can tell. If something bad was happening to her, I think I'd probably know it, and I guess I'd have to try to fix it..."

"That doesn't sound so bad. I mean, she's my best friend. If something bad was happening to her, you'd better let me know so I can fix it myself."

"She's fine," he reassured her. "I'm fine. More than fine."

She traced her finger along the sleep lines on his cheek. His hair was plastered to the side of his head. "You're adorable."

He frowned in an exaggerated fashion. "I am not adorable. I am manly and sexy."

Her eyes twinkled in the dim light. "You are as cute as a fluffy little kitten. Or a baby bunny."

He shifted his hips so that his erection mashed into her leg. "Does that feel cute to you?" he growled. He crawled on top of her, pinning her wrists to the bed, and slid between her thighs. "Or that?" He descended on her mouth, kissing her until she went pliant beneath him.

In between kisses, she teased, "It's your adorable, one-eyed pet snake."

"Shush, you," he answered, and he lapped at her salty skin with his tongue. Against her, he grew harder.

She tightened her grip on his shoulders but reminded him, "You have to go to school."

He repeated, "Shhh. You're talking too much, saying all the wrong words." Her crawled down her body and began to suckle at her full breasts until she moaned. When he started to feel her shifting her hips, he made his way back to her mouth and started to grind against her clitoris. Her legs fell open, and she began to pant into his mouth. "Mmm. That's it. That's right." He bucked against her little nub repeatedly. "Just feel." Soon enough she was right on the edge.

He was just about to push into her wet heat when she moaned, "What are you doing? You have to go..."

"I have to be inside you," he said gruffly, and then he was. She threw her head back and gasped, and he buried his face in her neck, savoring the way she felt. She was amazing, as always. No other woman would feel this way, her pussy's grip on him so tight, her body's heat matching his, her nails raking down his back, the imprint of his teeth in her skin. He tongued the mark until she started to tremble with pleasure, and only then did he start to move.

Her orgasm blossomed with each thrust, and he relished the sensation of her clenching around him. "Ahhh... Oh god! I... Oh!"

"Lee, baby," he grunted. "You feel so good."

"Mmm... ohhh... I'm still... oooh... I'm still c-coming!" She sounded surprised. This was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She had orgasmed countless times before, had even had long, protracted climaxes, and with Paul, had come so hard she was afraid she'd pass out, but this was different. It started the moment he entered her, and then it continued. Wave after wave rolled through her body, gentle but insistent, gradually building, slowly overwhelming her.

He grinned down at her. "Unhh... I know. I can feel you." She was amazing. No one had been as responsive to his touch as she was. It made him feel powerful, seductive, and alive. He slowly picked up his pace, burying himself inside her again and again. He restrained himself to measured, even strokes, and still she came. He kept his eyes open, mesmerized by the sight of her beautiful body beneath him and the intensely pleasurable sensations of her contractions on his thick cock. "You're so... You're so... Ahhh..."

Leah writhed, bracing one hand on the headboard above her for purchase. She braced her feet on the mattress, pressing her breasts into his chest and grabbing his ass with her free hand. She started to wail wordlessly, her head thrashing against the pillow. "Paul! Paul!" The sound of his name on her lips triggered his loss of control. He could no longer hold back, and he began to slam into her.

"Fuck... Fuck... Lee!"

And then her back arched off the bed, stretching her into taut, gorgeous lines of smooth caramel skin and luscious curves. Her mouth opened on a silent scream, she started to shake uncontrollably, and she stopped breathing. Paul was mesmerized by the helpless, ecstatic devastation on her face, and he shoved himself as deeply inside her as possible, and he exploded.

Paul collapsed on her. He might have fallen asleep again, but she started to chuckle, her laughter shaking the bed. He leaned up on his elbows, frowning. "Is something funny to you?"

Then he noticed the tears slipping out of her eyes. "No," she reassured him. "That was just amazing. Seriously. I don't have words."

"I made you come so hard that I made you cry?" he asked with a surge of pride.

She shrugged, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Yeah, I guess you did. You woke up Sam, too."

He had actually forgotten where they were, but now that she mentioned it, she could hear the other man's harsh breathing from the other room. "Good. Hope he remembers that."

"Unless he's a whole lot better, I doubt he's going to remember much of the past couple days as anything other than a bad dream."

"And he probably isn't better," he guessed, "otherwise he'd have barged in here and tried to rip me off you."

She glanced at the clock. "Don't you have to go?"

As he reluctantly pulled out of her, he realized it was a good thing she hadn't made him work for it. He really did have to leave. "I'll get there in time if I leave right now." He bent down to kiss her mark, and then he grabbed his pants off the chair where he had left them. "No time for a shower or a change of clothes, though. Think Sam has any granola bars around here I can steal?"

She sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. "Try the cabinet next to the fridge. You're going to do the walk of shame, huh?"

As he dressed, he smirked, "It's not the walk of shame for guys, babe. I just wish all the guys at school could smell you all over me."

She wrinkled her nose. "You totally reek of sex. You don't have to be a wolf to know it."

"Good." He winked at her and opened the door. "And you smell like my cum. Just the way I like you best."

Paul left her gaping behind him, and he made sure to toss a casual, "Mornin'" into Sam's open bedroom door as he jogged past.

Sam looked angry, but he was still too confused and weak to do anything other than mutter, "Fuck you, asshole," as he struggled to sit up.

When Paul arrived at school, sliding into his chair just seconds before the bell rang, Jared sniffed the air, wrinkled his nose, and turned to him with a perplexed expression. "I heard you imprinted on Rachel Black."

Paul shrugged and kept his eyes on the teacher. "Yup."

"Then why do you smell like Leah?"

Paul smirked. "Because no imprint is keeping me away from my woman."

Jared shook his head in disbelief. "Moron, what are you going to do about Rachel? You can't just pretend like it didn't happen."

"I'm not pretending anything. If she wants to talk to me, she knows where to find me. But I'm pretty sure it's Leah she wants to talk to, not me."

X-x-x-x-X

Paul was right. For now, Rachel was only interested in talking to Leah, not to him. She burst through Sam's front door, and she was fuming. "Who the hell do they think they are?"

Leah shushed her. "Quiet! I just got Sam to go back to sleep! Don't wake him up. He's driving me crazy!"

Rachel stared at her in disbelief, but she did lower her volume. "Then leave! Why are you here, anyway? He's your ex, and he doesn't deserve a single second of your time!"

"Somebody has to be here," Leah pointed out. "I'm the only one who doesn't have to go to school today, and other then my mom, the only one with medical training. And she has a job to go to during the day."

Rachel folded her arms over her chest. "So let him rot. If Emily wanted him so bad she stole him from you, she can come back here and deal with his shit. It's not your job anymore."

"The last time I stepped out of the house, just a little earlier this morning, he tried to follow me. Only he can't, exactly, in the state he's in. He'd end up wandering into somebody else's house, probably, and phasing in their kitchen or something. He doesn't know who's who or what's what. It isn't like leaving your hungover friend to sleep it off. He'd expose himself or hurt somebody. I can't risk it. And screw Emily coming back. I'm pretty much thrilled that she's gone, even if she didn't take the dumbass with her." Leah gestured her thumb toward Sam's bedroom.

Rachel huffed, "Fine. But you're still talking to me. I am not going anywhere until I get some answers."

Leah held out her hand toward her petulant friend, taking her into the kitchen. "That's true. I owe you a lot of explanations. Just tell me what you want to know."

"I want to know everything." Rachel sat at the table.

Leah put a kettle of water on the stove to boil. Rachel loved orange and hibiscus tea, so Leah had always kept a supply in the pantry. She dug around the shelves until she found the box buried under packets of hot cocoa. "Yeah, 'everything' is a lot. Where do we start? What were you ranting about when you came in, anyway?"

Rachel's mouth puckered into an angry little frown. "The council. My dad dragged me to a meeting, and a bunch of old, out-of-touch, sanctimonious idiots tried to tell me how to run my life. Thanks, but no thanks."

"What did they say?"

"That I'm supposed to drop everything, move back here, and have a litter of fucking puppies! Puppies, Leah!" Then she realized to whom she was speaking, and she apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry. Is that rude? That was rude, wasn't it?"

Leah just laughed. "Not at all. Puppies are adorable."

"Well, you and Paul can have all the puppies you want. You probably would make some cute kids. Emphasis on 'you'. I mean, he's your boyfriend, not mine. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were getting busy before I got here."

Leah flushed, remembering Paul’s intensity that morning, and pretended not to understand. “Huh?” She placed a bag of chips in front of Rachel.

Rachel pointed at her hair. "You have sex hair, honey. And your shirt is on inside out. I'm assuming that's because of Paul and not because you were comforting your ex with your body.”

“Oh, ew.” As Rachel reached into the bag for a handful of chips, Leah reached up to feel her hair, and indeed, it was askew, and the seams of her shirt were showing. "Crap. I look like a moron. Paul left for school, and he pissed off Sam on his way out, and I've been handling him ever since. I tried to take a minute to myself in the bathroom, but before I could brush my hair or wash my face, he tried to barge into the bathroom, and I got distracted."

"Are you safe here with him?" Rachel asked.

"Sam? Oh, I can handle him. I'm a werewolf too, remember?"

Rachel didn't believe her, but she didn't push it. "At least tell me you're being safe with Paul. If you're getting it on in your ex's house, I'm guessing you didn't have a handy, dandy stash of rubbers on you. I wasn't serious about having Paul’s puppies."

Leah blushed. They hadn't been nearly as careful as they should have been, although she was fairly certain that neither of them could catch anything. "I'm still on the depo shot, Rach. I'm not that dumb."

"So your jailbait boyfriend isn't going to knock you up?"

"He's nineteen! I'm not that much older than him, and he's totally legal."

Rachel shrugged. "He looks way older than that, I'll admit. He looks older than you. Plus he's sexy as fuck. I don't blame you for hitting that." At Leah's pointed look, she rolled her eyes. "I'm not blind. He's hot. But that doesn't mean I want him."

Leah couldn't help but ask, "Really? Honestly?"

Rachel drew an X over her chest with her fingertip. "Cross my heart and hope to die. Stick a needle in my eye. He's your boyfriend, not mine. I'm not into your sloppy seconds." Leah snickered, which was exactly the reaction Rachel was hoping for. "Seriously. Plus, even if he was single, I hardly know the guy. Can you believe the council wants me to drop everything for this dude, this taken dude, that I don't even know? They told me I'm supposed to move back here and 'support the tribe'. How? Play Suzie Homemaker? Yeah, right. You know me. I'm a shit cook, I can barely boil water, and I shrink half my laundry."

"Is that what they said you should do? Come back here and be a housewife for Paul?"

"Basically, yeah." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Can you believe Old Quil tried to use Emily as a model? He talked about how she kept the pack fed and clothed and laundered and stuff."

"Seriously? Did that senile old man forget that she tried to get your brother killed? That she disappeared with Cullen blood money?"

Rachel grinned. "So, Old Quil tried to say that Paul imprinted on me so I could take her place as pack caretaker. Which is total bullshit, for about a dozen different reasons. When he wouldn't let up, and he was doing mental gymnastics trying to defend Emily, my dad kicked him off the council."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. He went on a rant like I haven't seen since Becca and I took his car for a joyride when we were thirteen. Old Quil's out."

"Wow. Go Billy. It's about time. Did they let up on you?"

Rachel looked disgusted. "My dad was on my side, but not all the others. When it was clear that the Emily thing was a no-go, someone else tried to say I could bring back my 'newly acquired wisdom and skills to stimulate the reservation's economy'. How? With what? I don't think Paul imprinting on me is going to change the 50% unemployment rate or create any new jobs. And what am I supposed to do with my degree here? Even if I decided not to get the Master's, what kind of job can I get working here? Fight for one of the housekeeper jobs at the resort? Stock shelves at the market? Fuck that. I have worked too hard and too long to drop it all and come back here for a dead-end job."

"You totally earned that internship," Leah agreed. "Are you still going to do it?"

"Hell, yeah!" Rachel insisted. "I worked my ass off this last semester to get the grades, plus I tutored one of the lazy slackers in one of my programming classes because his dad is in HR at the company. He hit on me constantly, and believe me, he was one creepy dude. But I stayed professional the whole time, never opened my mouth and put him in his place like I wanted to, and it paid off. I'm not about to let the opportunity go by. They regularly hire out of the intern pool, usually the top one or two interns. If I work hard, make the right impression, and play nice, I could end up with a really good job. I hear they're great to work for. Sometimes they even help pay for a master's degree."

"That's fantastic! Then you have to do it. You have to show them how awesome you are."

"I plan on it! And no offense to your boyfriend, but the council is nuts if they expect me to settle down with some random dude I barely know. I have shit to do."

Leah saw the kettle starting to steam, and she pulled it off the fire before it could whistle and wake up Sam. She poured the hot water into a mug, dropped in the tea sachet, and added a spoonful of honey, just like Rachel liked it. "Here. Give it a minute. It'll burn your tongue if you drink it now."

"Thanks." Rachel wrapped her hands around the mug, letting it warm her hands. "So, how are you? Jake and my dad told me more about Sam and Emily, that bitch. I won't do that to you. You have to know that."

"I know." Leah smiled, relieved. "It already feels different. He's still with me, for one thing. Sam took, like, an hour to dump me after he imprinted."

"Whereas Paul has just been marking his territory, I see." Rachel pointed at the mark on Leah's neck. "That is one hell of a hickey."

Leah touched her fingers to the sensitive skin. "It's not a hickey. It's more like what you said first. He marked me."

“So those are teeth marks?” Rachel looked pained.

Leah poured a cup of tea for herelf. “Mmm hmm.”

"That's very caveman of him," Rachel noted. "I would cut a guy if he tried to do that to me."

Leah clarified, "It's a wolf thing, I think. My wolf really liked it."

"Huh. Did the others do that to their girlfriends?"

Leah shrugged. "I don't know. I heard that Kim is too afraid of being bitten to let Jared do it, and I think Emily wasn't interested in any more scars from Sam."

"The bitch deserved what he did to her face," Rachel insisted.

As much as she hated Emily, Leah had been injured often enough not to wish it on anyone. Though she healed quickly, she felt the pain of every prick, every cut, every broken bone like any human would. "I have to wonder if she would still have been so bitter if he hadn't done that to her. Maybe things would have turned out differently."

"You're being way too nice. She's been a jealous skank for as long as I've known her. I swear, she took Sam to hurt you. She wanted what was yours, and once she had the opportunity, she grabbed it."

"You really think so?"

Rachel reminded her, "I remember her. I met her at your house a bunch of times. I saw the way she used to look at Sam, like he was a piece of meat. And I saw the way she looked at you. She was always jealous of you. There's no question in my mind. Plus, hello. I am literally in her exact position, and I like to think I'm handling it a little better, don't you think?"

"A lot better," Leah agreed. "Thank you. I mean it. Whatever it is, this time is a whole lot different. And I'm starting to realize that it's not just that Paul isn't Sam, it's that you're not Emily."

"Every time I am faced with a decision, I will ask myself, 'What would Emily do?' And then I will do the exact opposite. It seems like a smart way to go through life." The girls both giggled in amusement.

After that, the conversation turned away from imprinting. Rachel was full of questions about being a protector. She bombarded Leah, wanting to know what shapeshifting felt like, what vampires were like, and what it felt like to tear one apart. Jacob had told her about Leah's role in destroying Victoria, and she wanted all the gory details. Her eyes shone as she listened to Leah talk, and Leah speculated that Rachel would make a ferocious wolf if she were to shift.

The girls' pleasant afternoon was interrupted when Sam awoke, calling for Leah. She escorted her friend out the door, worried that Sam wasn't in control of himself, especially since Rosalie was due at the house any minute to evaluate him. She half-expected him to phase the second he smelled the vampire in his home, and she couldn't let Rachel get caught in such a dangerous situation.

She was right. Sam smelled Rosalie before she entered the cabin, and he leapt out of bed snarling. Leah tried to calm him. "She's not coming to hurt you. It's just Rosalie." But Sam's transformation had already occurred. He phased involuntarily, shredding his boxers, shoving the bed over by a foot, and knocking the lamp off the nightstand. Leah caught it before it shattered on the floor and swatted Sam's tail out of her face. He didn’t seem to understand anything she told him and bolted out the bedroom door. The latched front door gave him pause, however. When she approached him, he was growling and scratching at the wood with his paw. "Calm down! You're going to wreck your house! I am not opening that and letting you hurt my friend. Don't you remember? She's a doctor. She helped me when Victoria tried to kill me. She's here to help you too."    

Sam stepped away from the door, but instead of phasing back or sitting on his haunches, he tried to pace. All he succeeded in doing was knocking over his armchair and the coffee table. Leah finally had to put her hands on his head and run them up and down behind his ears. "Sam, calm down! No one's going to hurt you, and you're not allowed to hurt anybody either!" Her touch seemed to calm him. His growling changed pitch into a whine, and he tucked his tail between his legs. Leah called out, "Hold on, Rose. He needs to change back." She stroked his fur and repeated reassuring words into his ear until he shrank back into himself. Then she grabbed a pair of shorts for him, averting her eyes from the body she knew intimately well.

He crumpled, shivering almost, though he was not cold. His eyes darted back and forth between her and the door, which now bore deep gouges from his claws. "What's going on? What’s out there?" And he pointed at the door.

"Do you remember Rosalie Cullen?" Leah asked. His blank stare made it clear that he did not. She needed to know how disoriented he was, so she drew on her clinical training. "Do you remember me?"

He rolled his eyes and answered, "Of course! You're my Lee Lee!"

She let the nickname slide. "Can you tell me your name? Your full name?"  
  
Now he looked exasperated. "Samuel Levi Uley. And I am not crazy. I just have a terrible feeling about whatever’s on the other side of the door. I can feel it in my bones. It’s not right."

"She, not it. She's here to help you! Do you know the date? What day is it today?" She wouldn't have been surprised if he couldn't name the day of the week, considering that he had slept through so much of it, but he ought to know the month and the year. He opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer. She urged, “Do you know where you are right now?"

Frustrated, he snapped, "What kind of a question is that? I live here! How stupid do you think I am?"

Placatingly, she explained, "I'm not trying to insult you. It's just a standard protocol they taught us in nursing school, okay? I need to let Rose in now. I know it's really hard to stay still, but you can't attack her. It's going to take all your willpower not to phase and attack, but she's here to help. Can you do that? Please don’t hurt my friend."

He still wasn't sure what he was agreeing to, but he nodded, wanting her approval. For some reason, Leah wanted him to play nice, so he would. "For you. But if it so much as blinks at me the wrong way..."

When she was sure he would sit still, she opened the front door. "Hey, Rose. Thanks for coming."

Sam immediately began to growl, and Rosalie arched a skeptical brown. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I can take care of myself, but me being here actually makes him worse, doesn’t it? Which sort of defeats the purpose."

"Maybe you shouldn’t come in,” Leah agreed, “but did you at least bring everything?"

Rosalie nodded and held up a cooler. "Here you go. I can put in the lab orders after we figure out what we want to do."

Leah withdrew sample cups, a tourniquet, needles, and vials from the cooler. "Thanks. We definitely need to get a tox screen."

"And check for infection, right? Is he in pain? Should we get a chest x ray? Abdominal?”

Leah glanced back at Sam, who was still growling. She originally thought Rosalie would assess him, but there was no way he was letting her get close enough to do an exam. “Put the orders in. I’ll figure out if he actually needs to go get it done.”

“And you said he had altered mental status. Should I be doing a spinal tap?" Rosalie offered.

Sam had stood and was pacing back and forth, barely resisting the urge to phase. He glared at Rosalie. “Touch me and see what happens,” he dared. “Just give it a try.”

Leah sighed. "Probably, but I don't think you can get close enough to do it."

Rosalie wisely chose not to enter. Instead, she asked, "Has he had any fevers? Beyond what you guys normally have, anyway?"

"No. He’s still hovering around 108. Lots of chills and sweats, though, and he’s only oriented times two."

Sam balled his hands into fists and snarled, "Stop talking about me like I'm not here! And get that goddamn freak out of my house!" He pointed out the door.

Rosalie pulled Leah outside, lowering her voice to the barest whisper. "Are you safe here? He doesn't look like he's in control of himself."

"He's not," Leah agreed, "but he's not dangerous, not to me anyway. He'll settle down once you go."

"Then why don't you get the samples from him, and I'll run them to the lab. I’ll stay out here for now. He obviously won't let me examine him, but I can still try to help you figure out what's going on."

Leah sighed. "I hope so. But I have a bad feeling that whatever's wrong with him isn't something we can pick up on a test."

After Rosalie left, Sam glared at Leah and said, "I can't believe you were going to let that thing in here. It shouldn't be on the Rez, and you shouldn't be talking to it like it's a person."

She reminded him, "That thing helped save my life. You were there. You watched her do it.”

Hey look of confusion passed over Sam's face. He obviously didn't remember, but he tried to hide it. Leah wasn't even sure that he understood Rosalie was a vampire. “Either way, I'm glad it's gone," Sam muttered.

She let him rant for a few minutes more until the phone rang. It was Sue. “Honey, is anything strange going on? I just got a call from your aunt Linda. "

"Sam's the same, if that's what you're asking. Why’d she call you?"

"Your cousin Brady has a fever. From the sounds of it, it's not a normal one either.”

Leah’s stomach dropped. Brady was far too young to phase. “Oh, no! He’s just a kid! Do you need me to check him out?”

Sue answered, “I’m going to stop by their house as soon as my shift is over. I’ll take a look at him. I have a bad feeling about it. With most of the Cullens gone, I would have thought our kids wouldn’t keep phasing. Not the young ones, certainly."

"Are we sure that's what's happening? Maybe he's just sick."

"Not with a temperature of 106, he's not. Apparently his friend Collin has a high temperature too. Linda thought he gave it to her son."

"Crap. Rosalie stopped by for a little bit, but that's all. I haven't heard about anything else. Maybe I should check with the pack."

Sue asked, "Is anyone on patrol right now?"

Leah explained, "School’s letting out soon. One of the guys was going to do a few loops before they went home. But Jake let them all go to school. He was trying to keep them out of summer school. I'll see if there's anything weird going on. If I need to, I might be able to leave Sam for a little bit and do a quick patrol myself."

Sue didn't like that idea. "Honey, you've just started to heal. I don't want you to break anything by doing it too soon. Plus, if there really is something dangerous out there, you can't be out there by yourself. It's not safe."

"It's probably nothing, Mom. The change was probably coming up on the boys for a while now, between the Cullens and all of Victoria's craziness. We just didn't get rid of them fast enough. Brady's been sprouting up like a weed, and that started months ago. It sucks that he might actually change, but I doubt it's because of any new threat." Leah said the words to reassure her mother, but she didn't particularly believe them.

Unfortunately, Sam wasn’t in any condition to be left alone. He was still agitated from Rosalie’s visit, and after he forgot that she had come and gone, her lingering scent kept triggering him to phase. He destroyed two kitchen chairs and an end table before Leah finally sent him outside. She instructed him to patrol directly around his home, which was isolated enough that no one would see what he was doing. To ensure that he wouldn’t run off and hurt someone, Leah jogged with him. She wasn’t certain how he would react to seeing her wolf form, and she was sure he would be disoriented if forced to see through her eyes in addition to his own, so she stayed in her human body.

For a while, running seemed to give Sam purpose and direction. Leah even enjoyed herself a little. It wasn’t as freeing as sprinting at top speed on four legs, leaving all her brothers behind her, but it was good to get outside, and she could almost pretend she was alone.

But after a few minutes, the peace was broken. Sam tripped over his own feet, stumbling into Leah. He started to snarl, twisting and turning about. He snapped his jaws and barked madly, but there was nothing and no one there.

Leah tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t or couldn’t listen. As soon as Leah realized there were no other vampires in the area, she decided she needed to phase in order to communicate with him. But by the time she did, Sam had stopped moving. She heard Jacob’s voice. He had just appeared, and Sam was panicking at the new voice in his head. He didn’t understand what was happening. Jacob ordered, _Calm down! Just show me what’s going on!_

Sam didn’t have a choice, so he replayed what he could remember. It wasn’t much. The past two days had been a blur of confusion and agony. Something was missing, something vital, but he didn’t even know what it was. The only constant was Leah. She was familiar and comforting, and she was rooted in a life that seemed remote, but that he remembered. He knew her even if he didn’t know himself. He didn’t know why she hadn’t let him touch her. He had reached for her several times, and she let him hold her hand. She even stroked his fur. But when he tried to get closer, she always found an excuse to move away. He felt devastated every time. And he knew something was going on between her and Paul. He could smell it all over his house. He wanted to kill the bastard for defiling Leah.

_Not that, Sam. What just happened? Why are you out there?_

Leah answered, _He couldn’t stay in the cabin. Rose came by to check on him, and he couldn’t handle it._

Sam hazily pictured the vampire, but it was obvious that he didn’t realize exactly who or what she was. All he knew was that she enraged him.

Jacob ordered, _Go home, Sam. Don’t come out until I tell you to, or Leah tells you to._ Reluctantly, Sam obeyed, leaving Jacob and Leah to talk. _Can you and Paul stop antagonizing him? It’s bad enough bringing a vampire to his house when he’s not in his right mind._

_Yeah, that might not have been the best idea…_ Leah admitted, but she couldn’t bring herself to regret it, especially not after Paul had imprinted on another woman.

_Look, I’m sorry about Paul. On, like, every level. The two of you are pretty good together, but I still think he’s kind of an asshole, and I don’t want him anywhere near my sister._

_Lucky for me, she seems to feel basically the same way. Actually, she seems more pissed about it than me. What did you tell her about imprinting?_

Jacob replayed some of his conversation with his sister. He had painted imprinting in a very negative light, which explained some of Rachel’s attitude. _I was never much of a fan of it. You know that already. But after the Emily fiasco? What else was I going to say?_

_Thanks for having my back._

_Sure, sure. I don’t think a Sam/Emily repeat is good for anyone: you, Rachel, Paul, or the rest of us. Speaking of, is Sam getting worse?_

_He’s sure not getting any better,_ Leah sighed. _Rose drew some tests, but if those don’t tell us what’s going on, I don’t really know what we’re going to do for him._

_Is he worse?_ Jake asked. _Do we need to take him to the hospital?_

_They won’t be able to help him,_ Leah said. _And in this state, he’d destroy half the hospital and expose himself. Expose all of us._

_So we wait for the tests to come back, I guess?_

Leah sighed. _I don’t see what choice we have. It’s possible he’s been on some kind of drugs, and we didn’t know. He’s pretty good at hiding secrets, after all._

_And the tests would tell us that?_ he asked.

_They should. And we’re looking for some kind of infection, too. That can cause a lot of disorientation, certain kinds anyway._

_Do you think Emily has anything to do with this? I mean, it’s supposed to really fuck up a wolf if he’s rejected by his imprint._

_Maybe, but he was fine at first. And she said some nasty things about him. Why didn’t he lose it then?_

_I have no idea,_ he admitted. _Maybe she slipped him something. Or maybe her leaving just made him weak._

_Made him susceptible to sickness? I guess it’s possible. I almost hope it’s that. Infections are treatable, but what will we do with him if he just needs to be with Emily?_

Jacob considered about his options. _At this point, I think we’d all be better off if we banished him right along with her. I’d do it now if I thought he wouldn’t go make some new mess somewhere else._

_You can’t trust him on his own, not like this. And even if we knew where to find her, I doubt she’d take him back. Anyway, I think we might have bigger things to worry about. Did you hear about Brady and Collin?_

Images of the boys appeared in Jacob’s mind. _Collin my cousin? And Brady Fuller?_

_Yeah. They’ve got pretty bad fevers,_ she explained.

It was the first Jacob heard of it. _Damn it. I should have known. Collin’s been sprouting up like a weed lately, and he was all geeked the other day because a high school girl from Forks hit on him the other day. He doesn’t look like a little kid anymore._

Jacob apologized before rushing off to check on them. He had intended to watch over Sam himself, to allow Leah a break, but he knew he needed to search the area for any signs of vampire activity, and to see if the boys really were about to phase.

Leah reluctantly returned to the cabin. She didn’t get any company that night. Paul stayed away at Jacob’s request, though he spoke with Leah on the phone. Leah had her hands full with Sam, at any rate. His status deteriorated with every passing hour. His delirium worsened. He wavered between not knowing who Leah was, forgetting the past several months altogether and thinking they were still engaged, or suddenly recalling Emily and asking where she had gone. His pain flared to the point that she could barely convince him that his skin had not been lit on fire. When he finally fell into a delirious sleep, he sweated so heavily that he soaked his sheets, and if his screams were any indication, he dreamt alternately of losing Emily and of losing Leah.

Leah barely slept. Hope flared briefly when she received a call from Rosalie early in the morning. She anticipated an answer that would explain Sam’s condition, but his toxicology screen showed no drugs in his system, and his tests showed no signs of infection. She still had no idea what was going on, and unlike the previous day, Sam had no periods of respite. He moaned, screamed, and growled until he nearly lost his voice, and when he tried to get out of bed, it was because he couldn’t control his phasing. He destroyed three pairs of boxers involuntarily transforming into a wolf in his bedroom before Leah finally gave up and threw a sheet over his waist.

In the mid afternoon, Leah finally stepped out of the house, silently thanking Jacob for issuing the Alpha order that kept Sam inside. He had just shredded the curtains and carpet in the bedroom. She barely managed to get out of the way. He was in the process of destroying the dresser they had purchased at a garage sale in Forks, and Leah thought it provided an odd sense of closure. He had already destroyed everything else they had built as a couple. He might as well smash the furniture too.

She sat on front step of the porch and called her mother. Sue had the day off, and she had spent it running between Collin’s and Brady’s homes. There was no question that the boys were about to phase. Sue did her best to ease the transition while the pack was occupied with the last day of school for the year. As soon as the last bell rang, they split up. Jacob met with the council, he sent Jared and Quil on patrol, Embry was watching over Collin, and Paul headed to Brady’s house. Seth was supposed to help Leah. Sue offered to come too, but Leah adamantly refused. If Sam accidentally hurt her, she would heal, but her mother was too vulnerable.

Seth arrived shortly thereafter. Leah was thrilled to find that he had brought food with him. She had been making do with the little that was left in Sam’s pantry, and her hunger made her even crankier than she already was. Seth handed her a cold Coke, sat down on the porch next to her, and set a pepperoni pizza at her side. He kept another for himself. When she took her first bite, she was so happy with the food, and so distracted by her brother’s chatter, that she didn’t notice the sudden silence in the house behind her.

But both Clearwater siblings heard the creak of the old front door as it opened behind them. Leah didn’t feel like talking to Sam. She was already sick of him before he lost it and practically destroyed his house. She slowly chewed her food, took another bite, and chewed some more, her back turned to him the entire time.

Seth glanced between them. “Uh, Lee?”

She stared straight ahead and reminded Sam, “Jake ordered you to stay in there. That’s why you can’t come out. Do you remember? You’ve been really sick.”

Sam didn’t answer. Instead, Seth repeated, “Lee?”

She finally turned around to look at him. Sam was shaking so hard that he had to grip the molding on either side of the door to stay upright. His hair was askew, but he had put shorts on, and his dark eyes were clearer than she had seen them in days. Months, even. They pinned her in place. “Sam? Are you okay?”

He cleared his throat, which was hoarse and dry after the past few days’ ordeal. “She’s gone, Lee Lee. Emily’s gone.”

“I know, Sam. She’s been gone for, what, over a week now. Do you remember what happened? You’ve been pretty confused.”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” he clarified. He pressed his fist to his stomach. “I can feel it in here, in my gut. She’s _gone_.”

Seth put his slice back in the box. “Like, ‘gone’, gone?”

Sam didn’t take his eyes off Leah. He straightened to his full height, and the tremors in his body stilled. “I’m sure of it. Absolutely certain.”

Leah frowned. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but her curiosity got the best of her. “What are you talking about?”

“Even after she left, I could feel her out there, somewhere. She was mad as hell, and I knew it. She wanted to get away, away from me, from you, from here. And she did. She was fine, basically. I’m certain of it. But then, all of a sudden, she wasn’t.”

Understanding dawned on Leah. “That’s when you collapsed.”

Sam nodded slowly, and in a calm, cool voice, he told her, “I think so. I don’t exactly know what happened to the last few days. Maybe you can fill me in. But that’s not what matters. What matters is that she’s dead now, Lee Lee. She’s gone. She’s gone. And I....” As she slowly absorbed the news, Sam started to crumple. Seth moved to catch him, but Sam pushed him away. “No, no.” His handsome face twisted in agony, and he fell to his knees.

Leah rushed forward, leaning over him. She was fully prepared to resuscitate him. If his imprint had just died, would he die as well? Was he about to go into cardiac arrest? “Sam? Are you okay? Where does it hurt? What do you feel? Can you breathe?”

Sam grabbed her around the waist as soon as she crossed the threshold, shaking his head vigorously. She tried to squirm away, but he would not let go. For several seconds, he buried his face in her belly. He spoke into the fabric of her shirt and clung to her. “No, it’s not me. That’s not it. I’m not hurt.” She managed to push his head back far enough to ensure his ability to breath, but he kept his head tucked down as if he was ashamed. He whispered, “She’s gone, which means I’m free. I’m free. Do you understand? I’m just…” He looked up at her, and his eyes shone with tears. She was shocked to realize he was crying. She didn’t think she had ever seen him so distraught, not in all the years they had known each other. Tears streamed down his face, and his voice broke. “What did I do to you, Lee Lee? My sweet, beautiful Lee Lee? What did I do to us? Oh god, what have I done?”

 

 


	35. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Babs81410.

Leah froze in surprise. Her hands hovered in the air above Sam's head. She was too shocked to respond, too startled to move.

It was Seth who demanded to know what he was talking about. “What did you say about Emily? How do you know?”

Sam didn’t look at Seth. He kept staring up at Leah and repeated, "She's dead. I don't know how or why, but I'm sure of it."

Leah didn’t know what to make of him. Could he be right? He had absolutely no evidence, but he was adamant. How was she supposed to feel about this? Emily had been cruel to her, had willfully stolen Leah's life out of jealousy and spite. But she was family, and once upon a time, they had been the best of friends. Leah was glad Emily was gone, but dead? It was unthinkable. What happened to her? Numbly she asked, "Then do you need to go? Do you need to find her, figure out what happened?" He had been so sick for the last few days. Would he even be able to? She tried to imagine what Jared would do if something happened to Kim. She was certain he would track down whoever hurt her and make them pay, regardless of his own wellbeing. But Emily had rejected Sam. Did that change things?

Sam only clutched her harder and shook his head. "No, no. I’m not going anywhere."

Indeed, he was clinging to her as if his life depended on it, as if she was the only thing keeping him from sinking into an abyss. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. She had already exhausted herself caring for his physical needs. She wasn't prepared to comfort him emotionally too. As Rachel pointed out, she didn't owe him anything. "I'm really sorry, Sam," she said awkwardly. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," he pleaded with her.

She tried, "I think you're confused. You've been really sick the last few days. You haven't been yourself..."

"Please just listen," he interrupted. "I'm not confused. I'm not sick anymore. I feel like myself again, really. I'm not sick and I'm not in pain. I feel like I've just woken up from a nightmare, only I was the monster in the dream! I just… I can't… I can't believe what I've done. And to you! It’s unthinkable. Unimaginable. Please, you have to forgive me!"

It took her several more seconds to realize that his distress was over her, not over Emily. She was floored. Sam's words were the last thing she ever expected to hear from him. She didn’t believe her own ears. She must have heard him incorrectly. “What? I… what?"

"Lee Lee, you're the love of my life! You're my everything! And what I've done to you... “ His voice cracked. “I can't believe what I've done to you… Fuck. It really happened, didn’t it? All of it."

When she said nothing, Seth quietly said, "Yeah, it happened."

He sounded like he was choking. "I... It wasn't me. Oh, God. This is a nightmare. I'm so sorry. I can't believe... It wasn't me. Do you understand? Tell me you understand! It wasn’t me!"

Leah gaped down at him. She couldn't comprehend what he was trying to say. It was too confusing and too much. She had spent so long missing him, feeling brokenhearted over him, and wishing for him back. She had already grieved over their broken engagement and the cruel destruction of the life she expected to have. When she returned home, and her life was overturned by the loss of her father and her own transformation, she had finally discovered what really happened to him. She realized he was lost to her forever, and she had mourned him. When he tried to manipulate her into staying with him despite his betrayal, her despair twisted into anger. His deplorable behavior actually helped her get over him, and she had truly moved on. So she was totally unprepared for whatever he was trying to tell her now.

Seth who skeptically asked, "If it wasn't you, who was it?"

"I mean that I wasn't in control of myself. I remember everything, and it’s like watching a horror movie. But that all really happened, didn't it?” As he talked, he became more frantic, and his voice rose in pitch. “I really did all those terrible things! You have to believe I would never choose another girl over you. I would never willingly choose to hurt you, Lee Lee! You're my everything! I love you. I've loved you forever. I will love you forever!"

When Leah finally understood what he was trying to say, she tried to pull away. She choked out, "You can't say that, Sam.” She tried to twist out of his grasp, but he held on tighter. "Not now, not after everything. You can’t say those things to me anymore."

He countered, "You're wrong! I have to say it now, because I haven't been able to speak honestly since I looked at Emily! This is how I really feel, and everything that happened, that was just a lie! You have to believe me. I never would have chosen to do any of that. It was her, not me!"

Leah was at a loss. Not long ago, she would have wept with relief at his words. She might have believed them whether or not they were true, perhaps even after he had proposed to Emily. Maybe she would have come home from Pullman for him if he had asked. But when she finally did return, she found him to be wholly callous and cruel. And after he tried to trap her into staying with him, when he nearly raped her, she lost what little affection for him that had remained. She couldn't even imagine trusting him again.

And that wasn't even considering Paul. Paul, with whom she had so unexpectedly fallen in love. Getting to know him was a slow but inevitable revelation. On paper, he had almost nothing that she was looking for, but in reality, he was everything she needed. It would kill him to see Sam touching her this way, so she reached around her back and pried his fingers off her waist. Instead of letting her go, he just held onto her hands. In a shaky voice, she responded, "Maybe it was Emily who made you break up with me in the first place. But you can't try to tell me that she wanted you to try to sleep with me, to try to keep me on the side, phasing with you forever. You can't pin that on her. It was all you."

He didn't have an answer for her. "Lee Lee..."

"No!" she yelled, twisting her hands from his grip. "How could I ever believe you after what you did to me? You meant what you said at the time, every bit as much as you mean what you're saying now. Regretting it now doesn't erase it. How could you possibly expect me to trust you?"

He protested, "I hate myself for saying those things, for doing that to you. All I've ever wanted is to make you happy and keep you safe. But these last few months, I’ve done just the opposite. If anybody else ever tried something like that with you, I’d kill them. So it kills me that I was the one who scared you, who hurt you. It was completely wrong, and yeah, probably unforgivable. But I will never do anything like that again. Because I'm me again, not that twisted, evil thing she turned me into. It was totally fucked up, but it was the only way I could express that I still cared about you. Because I never stopped. Never. And I never will."

He tried to reach for her again, but she moved just out of reach. "I can't do this. I can't listen to this. I've got to go."

Sam insisted, "Please, just stay. I just need to talk to you. You can't go. You don’t even have to talk. Just listen. Or if you aren’t ready to listen, just stay. Just sit with me."

Seth finally stepped between them, barring Sam's attempt to grab her again. "You've done enough, don't you think? Leave her alone."

“I can’t. Not after everything that happened. I have to fix it. I can’t let you leave this way. I love you too much!”

She shook her head, refusing to look at him again. It hurt too much. She didn’t want to admit it, but he was different than he had been only three days before. She felt it as surely as he felt Emily’s absence. He was changed again. But had he reverted entirely into the person she once knew? Her sweetheart that she had loved for years? Was it possible? She didn’t think so, but he looked so sincere. “I have to go.”

“Don’t!” He rose from the floor and tried to follow her outside, but an invisible barrier kept him from crossing the threshold. Jacob’s order to remain in his home was still in place. “Fuck!”

Leah turned, nearly tripping over the pizzas that still sat on the porch step. “I can’t… I can’t do this, Sam.” She couldn't think straight while looking at the devastation on his face. It was too instinctive, too ingrained, to comfort him, take care of him. But she needed to take care of herself first.

Sam slammed his fists against the molding on either side of his door, desperate to follow her. He yelled, “God damn it, don’t leave me here! Don’t you see? We've been given another chance! We are supposed to be together. My imprint on Emily was wrong. It was a mistake. The spirits made a mistake. They even tried to give you back to me by making you phase and join my pack. Don’t you see that? Girls don’t phase. They never have. But you? Why do you think you phased? They were giving you back to me! I handled it completely wrong, I know. I royally fucked it all up, because my brain was scrambled by the imprint. That shit I pulled, it wasn’t the real me. But this is!”

From the front yard, she turned back to look at him. Her heart pounded in her chest. “How am I supposed to know that, Sam?”

For a second, he looked crestfallen. Then an idea occurred to him. “Phase with me! Phase with me, and I’ll show you!”

She almost laughed out loud, the idea was so ridiculous. She couldn’t bear this conversation, let alone being inside his mind. And she had no intention of letting him inside hers. “There is no way that’s happening. People aren’t meant to see inside each other’s brains, especially me and you. No way. Besides, I’m with Paul now.” Her fingers moved to her neck. She was reassured to find his mark still there. She had an absurd fear that it had disappeared, either because of Paul’s imprint on Rachel, or somehow, due to Sam himself.

Sam snarled at the sight of Paul’s brand, and he punched the drywall next to the front door in frustration, opening a hole. “God damn it. That shouldn't be there. He should never have touched you. That should be mine!”

“You don’t get to decide that!” she yelled back.

He struggled to get out the front door, but Jacob’s order stood firm. But it couldn’t stop him from yelling, “I don’t accept that! Please, all that shit I pulled, all those awful things I did, they weren’t the real me! I still love you, and I'm not giving up. Emily dying was the spirits' way of correcting themselves, the universe realigning, putting everything back into place. Don’t you see that? We can't let this chance pass us by. It's all falling back into place, the way it should have in the first place. Why do you think Paul imprinted on Rachel? You aren't meant for him! You aren't meant for any of the others! That's why no one imprinted on you. You don’t belong to him. You and I are supposed to be together, and now the spirits are putting everything back in place for us!"

Exasperated, she spat, "Jesus, Sam. You really have lost your mind if you think that twisted logic is going to work on me. Screw the spirits! If they are really in control of any of this, they obviously have no fucking idea what they're doing! Are you honestly trying to tell me that imprinting is going to fix anything? After everything Emily's done to you? After what you did to her? After all that, are you honestly going to tell me that Paul and Rachel were made for each other? Seriously? As much as it hurt, I am so damn thankful that I didn’t imprint, not on you, not on Paul, not on anyone. I pray that I never do. I want no part of that! I have free will, and now, so do you."

She meant that to be the end of the conversation, and she began to stalk off. Seth was hot on her heels. But Sam had to have the last word. He called out, "You're right! I do have free will! And I choose you! Imprinting on Emily was wrong, and I know I did a lot of fucked up things after it happened, and I hurt you. I'll never forgive myself for it. But you have to believe me. I'm back. This is the real me, and I'm going to fight for you. Not only that, but I'm going to win. Paul may not have realized it yet, but he doesn't belong to himself anymore. He doesn’t have free will. So he's going to leave you. And as much as it kills me, as much as it rips me apart, if I have to, I will wait until that happens. But I will be waiting for you, because you and I are meant to be together!"  

Leah sprinted away before he could tell her anything else that she couldn't bear to hear.

She didn't even think about where to go. Her feet carried her straight to Paul. He would be furious with Sam, but she couldn't keep this kind of secret from him. He had been honest about Rachel so far, and she owed him the same courtesy. The trick was to somehow keep him from going back to the cabin and ripping Sam to shreds. While she made her way to her aunt's house, Seth ran off in the opposite direction. Someone needed to tell Jacob what had happened.

When she arrived, her aunt Linda immediately assumed she was there to check on Brady and began launching into a disjointed account of the progression of his illness. He was getting worse. While at first he had complained of generalized aching, he was now in so much pain that he stopped complaining. Leah knew it was a bad sign. Her cousin was always a chatterbox. The only time she remembered him fall totally silent as a toddler, it turned out he had knocked himself unconscious. Now he was both conscious and coherent, but he hurt so badly that he wished he wasn't. His temperature was up to 107.5, and his body was wracked with tremors and sweats. He looked quite a lot like Sam had over the past few days. She looked him over before turning to Paul, who was sitting in a chair by his bed.

"What are you doing here?" he said with a smile. "I didn't think I'd get to see you tonight. Did Sam finally kick the bucket and set you free?" he joked.

She tried to return his grin, but couldn't. "Something's happened."

His face immediately fell, and he stood. But before she had the chance to explain, Brady rose up on his elbows and asked, "Lee? Is that you? Is there a vampire?" He looked absolutely panicked.

As much as she wanted to vent about Sam, she realized that what she was going through was nothing compared to what Brady was going through. She had been terrified when she phased for the first time, but at least she was an adult when it happened. He was still basically a child. "Oh, nothing like that. You would know it if there was a leech. Paul wouldn't still be sitting here, for one thing, and you'd have heard us howling. It's just personal stuff, that's all."

He fell back against the pillows, wincing. "Oh. I was kind of worried." He cleared his throat, trying to steady it. "So, you too, huh? And Seth? Is everybody we know like us?"

"Not everybody. I'm sorry this is happening to you. I didn't know anybody could change so young. It'll be okay, though. You'll feel a lot better soon." She tried to comfort him. He was a sweet kid, a lot like Seth. "And you're going to love it, I think. It already made you kind of huge. You sure don't look like a little kid anymore. And let's face it: you're going to have superpowers, basically. "

He groaned, "You mean my skin's so hot, I'm going to a light on fire? Because that's what it feels like."

She patted his hand, remembering how small it was when she first met him in the hospital a day after he was born. His tiny fist had clutched her finger so tightly. It was hard to believe that this lanky teenager was once so small. "I'm sorry. I promise, it will feel a whole lot better really soon. Once you phase, you won't feel feverish anymore, and the pain will stop."

"Then can we speed up the process a little? I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Paul interjected, "I thought maybe I could do that. I'm being a bit of a dick, which is kind of easy considering that I'd have been able to stay with you if I didn't have to be here. Figured I could piss him off enough to make him phase. But all he does is laugh at me."

Brady explained, "It's sort of hard to get pissed when I know you don't actually mean any of it."

Paul rolled his eyes. "How do you know I'm not serious? Maybe I really do think you're a whiny brat. I mean, I've got better things to do than babysit you."

Brady just snorted in amusement, then abruptly stopped and clutched up his chest. "Oh, don't make me laugh. It hurts."

"See?" Paul pouted. "He thinks I'm funny. I'm totally not trying to be funny here."

Leah wasn't surprised. Brady was very good natured and even-tempered. "Yeah, that's not going to work. Short of sticking a vampire in front of you, I'm not sure there's much we can do to speed things up."

Paul interjected, "Actually, that's a great idea. We should do that!"

Brady looked genuinely alarmed. "Are you going to throw me to a vampire? That's a horrible idea!"

Leah immediately picked up on Paul's train of thought and shook her head. "Of course not. We'd never put you in danger. But one of them is actually our ally, and she's a doctor. She might be able to help. Let me give her a call."

Paul followed her outside. "You think she'll come?"

"I don't see why not." Leah remembered Sam's reaction to the vampire's presence. She hadn't even come into the house, and Sam had phased. "But she might not need to. I think her scent alone may trigger him."

He agreed. "Makes sense. They smell absolutely disgusting, and it's just instinct to phase around that smell of death. And probably a lot safer than putting your kid cousin in the same room with an actual leech. She could probably just get sort of close."

She pointed out, "We might not even need her. We can start with some of her things and go from there. I'll ask." She took out her phone.

"Wait," Paul stopped her. "You said something happened? You looked all shaken up when you got here."

Leah pulled Paul into the cover of the woods. She was worried that he might phase when he heard about Sam, and her aunt Linda was peering at them through the window. "You're not going to like this," she warned him.

He narrowed his eyes, guessing at the possibilities. "What did that bastard do?"

Leah explained, "He said he knew Emily was gone. Gone as in dead."

Paul was taken aback. "What? Are you serious? How? What happened?"

She shrugged. "He claims he just knows. He says he can feel it. Which I guess makes some sense. Don’t you think you would know something was wrong with Rachel if something bad happened to her?"

He admitted, "I guess. Yeah, I would know. So that's why he was such a mess the last few days? It kind of makes sense, but why didn't he say something sooner? Why would he just sit there if he knew she was in danger? That doesn't make any sense."

"I really don't know anything more than that. I don't even know if it's true. I'm going to have to call her mom and sister and see if they know anything."

"Shit," he sighed. "Is Jake with him now? Is that why you were able to leave? What does he think?"

"No, no. Seth's on his way to tell Jake what's going on. I suppose they have talked by now, actually. But I don't know what he's going to do about it."

Paul noticed that Leah still looked very nervous and uncomfortable. "Are you okay? I mean, I know you guys obviously aren't close anymore, but I know you used to be. It has to be kind of hard, especially not knowing exactly what really happened to her." He gently dug deeper. "But there's more, isn't there?" He could tell because of the look on her face.

She nodded and ducked her head, trying to compose her thoughts into something coherent. "You're right. It's Sam."

"As much as I hate the jackass, even I am a tiny bit worried about him. The way he and Jared went on and on, you'd think they would both drop dead the instant anything happened to Kim or Emily. He's still alive, right?"

"Of course. It's really strange. He's much better, actually." She looked up to see him frown.

"Better? That doesn't make any sense. I mean, I'm not exactly close to Rachel, but I'm pretty sure I'd feel shitty if she died."

Leah offered, "That's what I would have thought too. But he swears that his pain is gone, and he isn't disoriented and confused anymore. It was so bizarre. It was like a light just switched off, and his symptoms went away. I actually think that maybe the imprint got broken when she died, if that's actually what happened. He was way less concerned about her than he should have been."

Paul speculated, "Then maybe she actually broke the imprint somehow, instead of dying, I mean. Maybe it feels like she's dead to him because their connection is gone, not because she's actually dead."

Leah was intrigued by the idea. "Huh. It would explain why he seems to weirdly okay with it. Maybe that's it."

"I guess we have to figure out what happened to her, then. Otherwise I don't think we're really going to know. We should probably talk to Jake too, don't you think? But somebody still needs to hang with Brady." He glanced back at the house. "Should I stay here while you go find him and your brother? Or vice versa? Of course, we could just call."

Leah interrupted him. "Actually, that's not all. It's Sam. He's… I don't know how to explain it…"

"Did he do something? What did that asshole do?"

"He didn't do anything. It's what he said. He tried to apologize to me. I guess he regrets everything he did to me since he imprinted."

Paul didn't understand why she was upset. "Yeah, well, he should. He ought to apologize."

"He's not just sorry. He claims he still has feelings for me. It was really confusing, and finally I just left, because I couldn't listen to it anymore. I was lucky that Jake ordered him to stay in the house. That way I was able to leave, because otherwise…"

He interrupted, "Did he try something with you? Did he do something?"

"Nothing like that! It was just kind of pathetic, not dangerous. Plus my brother was there the whole time. It's just what he said that bothered me. He tried to say that everything that happened was the imprint's fault, and Emily's. He kept begging me to forgive him."

Paul frowned. "That guy has some nerve. He doesn't deserve it. Maybe it's partly her fault that he dumped you like hot rocks when he imprinted, but he didn't fight it either. Plus he can't blame Emily for what he did to you in the woods, making you break up with me, and wiping your memory and trying to trick you into staying with him. That was all him, and he can't pin it on someone else."

She reassured him, "That's what I said, too. The really crazy thing is that he doesn't just think I should forgive him. He seems to think that because the imprint is gone, we can pick up where we left off."

Paul's anger flared along with his anxiety. Was she seriously considering it? Was she going to leave him for Sam? The former Alpha was a monster, but he had a history with Leah that Paul wasn't sure he could compete with. Once upon a time, Sam has truly loved her, and she had loved him back. Though he had done monstrous things, he could claim to be a changed man, and she might believe him. If his imprint was actually gone, he may actually be different. The thought terrified Paul. He yelled, "Excuse me? You have got to be kidding me! What exactly did he say?"

Leah didn't want to answer, worried about his reaction. But she wouldn't lie to him. She admitted, "He says he still loves me. He wants me back. He said we're still supposed to be together."

Now Paul slammed his fist into the nearest tree trunk. "Are you serious? After everything he did? That god damned asshole! Doesn't he know we're together? He had his chance, and he blew it. Worse. He fucked it up royally, and he doesn't deserve your sympathy, let alone to get you back. I'm going to kill that fucker."

He started to storm off in the direction of Sam's cabin, but she stopped him. "Don't. Don't go. He's not..."

He cut her off. "I don't want to hear it. Don't try to protect him. I don't care if his imprint just died. I don't care that he was at death's doorstep a couple hours ago. He's a manipulative prick trying to trick you into staying with him, again. I guess he didn't learn his lesson when I kicked his ass the last time. This time it's not over until he understands that he's not allowed to look at you again, let alone touch you, or get you back. Or maybe I'll just kill him."

She grabbed his wrist. "Just stop!"

He whirled on her. "Are you trying to defend that motherfucker? After everything he did? I cannot believe it!"

"I'm not defending him!" she yelled back. "He's just not worth it right now. We have more important things to do, don't you remember? My thirteen-year-old cousin is on the verge of phasing, along with his best friend, and we have no idea what happened to Emily. We kind of need to figure that out, don't you think? Maybe she's really dead, or maybe she just broke the imprint. Dealing with that is way more important that my ex's feelings and your macho pissing contest. He's trapped in his cabin, okay? I walked away from him and came to you, and it wasn't so you could run right back there. I don't want to see him right now. I want to be with you, which is why I came here. I should have gone to Jake, but I didn't. I came to you. And now you're walking away from me?"

He balled his hands into fists and let out a feral growl, frustrated that she was right. Then he grabbed her around the waist, backing her against a tree with his body. Looming over her, he growled, "You're mine now." Before she could answer, he descended, ravaging her mouth with his. The fingers of one hand dug into her hip, the others tangled in her hair and pulled her head backward to expose her neck.

"Paul..."

He roughly licked at his mark, nipping at her sensitive skin with his teeth until she moaned. "You're mine now," he repeated. "He can't have you."

She shakily answered, "I'm yours. I know it, and he knows it. It doesn’t matter whether he accepts it."

She couldn't speak again for several seconds because his mouth was on hers. He left one hand tangled in her hair to keep her still and opened to him, and with the other, he slid his hand up her shirt, palming as much of her skin as he could. He aggressively grabbed her breast, and he nipped and sucked along her jaw, neck, and collarbone, leaving tiny red marks. She wondered if she would bruise, if only for a few minutes, but it didn't hurt at all. To her wolf, it was supremely pleasurable, and he knew it. He groaned into her skin and tried to take off her shirt. She knew he wanted to strip her and take her then and there.

But it was neither the time nor the place. She was right when she told him they had more important things to do. "Paul." She tried to get his attention. "Paul, we can't. Not right now."

He didn't let go. "Now, tonight, whenever we want to. I want to, and I know you do too." He kissed her again. "I can smell it. You smell delicious. You want me as much as I want you."

She had to forcibly push him back. "Yeah, but my aunt is coming. Unless you want to give her a show, back off a little."

He turned to see that she was right. Linda was crossing the yard, heading straight for them. "Is everything okay?" she called out.

Leah stepped back and smoothed her shirt. "No danger, no vampires. Just some pack business."

Linda clearly didn’t believe her, but all she said was, "Are you guys leaving? I was hoping somebody would stay with Brady."

Leah and Paul glanced at each other. Paul said, "We need to talk to Jacob, but maybe he can come to us so that neither of us has to leave."

Leah agreed. "He's with Seth and the council right now, I think. But I'd rather talk to him without everyone else there anyway. Let me see if I can get either bring him here or reach him on the phone."

Linda looked worried as they followed her back in. "Are you sure everything is okay? It doesn't sound okay."

"Okay is a relative term. But I promise, no one's in danger, and nothing takes priority over Brady and Collin." Leah explained their plan to trigger her son to phase. Her aunt was horrified, but she explained her logic and gave her reassurance that Rosalie hurt no one. While they spoke, Paul called Jacob to the house.

He and Seth arrived before Rosalie did. He greeted Brady, reassuring him that the pack would take care of him, and telling him that soon, he would be racing through the woods with Collin. Then he pulled Leah aside to hear her description of Sam firsthand. When she was done explaining, he knew he had to talk to Sam directly. Jacob ran off, leaving Seth behind, and telling Leah and Paul that his sister wanted to see them when they had a chance.

Soon after, Seth led Brady into the woods behind his house. Rosalie had snuck by while they were talking, and she left one of her jackets hanging on a tree. Brady smelled it immediately and instinctively bolted toward it. He exploded into an ashy brown wolf mid-stride. Leah's plan had worked. She managed to trigger Brady to phase without putting anyone in danger, ending his pain.

Jared and Quil awaited the new pup in the pack mind. They, along with Seth, oriented him to his new body and skills. Meanwhile, Leah and Paul took Rosalie's jacket to Collin's house. He, too, was in unbearable pain. When they offered to help him complete his transformation, he eagerly jumped at the chance. The trick worked equally well the second time.

Since there were so many people ready and willing to take care of the newest pack members, Paul and Leah made their way out. They didn't need to discuss where to go next; they simply started walking. They moved at a deliberately slow pace. It would take a little longer, but they wanted more time to themselves. The last few days had been exhausting, and all Leah wanted to do was hole up together where they couldn't be found. Paul wouldn't have minded going to Sam's cabin, dragging him out, and beating him senseless, but he knew Leah wouldn't let him. He settled for taking her hand in his as they walked. They remained silent, though he burned with questions. Was she happy that Sam regretted what he had done to her? Did she believe any of his claims? Did she think he had genuinely changed? Did she believe that the imprint was gone? And worst of all, was she thinking of taking him back? Paul wasn't sure he could handle knowing the answers, though, so he didn't ask.

Leah, on the other hand, wasn't even thinking about Sam. She was too tired, both mentally and physically, and there were far too many serious issues occupying her mind. What had actually happened to Emily? They were hardly close, but even at her lowest point, Leah had never wished death on her cousin. And why had Brady and Collin phased now? All the Cullens were dead or gone except Rosalie. Had the coven simply remained there long enough that the boys’ change became inevitable? She suspected not. Was anyone else going to change? She was afraid that even younger children might transform. It was a terrible thought. Her experience was bad enough, but at least she had the chance to get a degree and start working before her life was overturned. Would younger pack members even be able to finish middle school? Elementary school? And what was going on between Rachel and Paul? She knew Paul didn't want to hurt her, and she believed the same of Rachel. But if anyone had asked her if Sam or Emily could have betrayed her, once upon a time, she would have adamantly insisted that it was not possible. She couldn't have been more wrong. Would history repeat itself? Rachel didn't seem the least bit interested in Paul, unlike Emily’s long term crush on Sam. But Rachel barely knew Paul. It was easy not to want him when all she knew of him was that he was Leah's boyfriend. And the council had inadvertently painted a picture of a miserable life on the reservation when they explained imprinting to Rachel. She reacted with anger at their attempts to control her life. But she was mad at the council, not at Paul. Surely once she knew him better, she would soften to him. Over time, couldn't she easily develop feelings for him? He was witty and sarcastic just like she was. He was as clever and as smart as she was. He was fiercely loyal and deeply passionate. And she would have to be blind not to recognize how attractive he was. Wouldn't she inevitably develop feelings for him, just as Leah had? What would happen then? Leah couldn't help but worry as they approached the Black house.

Indeed, Rachel was enormously excited at their arrival. But her enthusiasm was for Leah, not Paul. Jacob's sister squealed and practically pounced on Leah the moment they opened the door. "Please tell me you're here to rescue me! I am dying a slow, terrible death from boredom. I had almost forgotten how little there is to do here. I thought I would at least see my dad and brother, but they keep bailing on me."

"I'm sure they'd rather be here hanging out with you if they could," Leah reassured her. “I actually wish it was more boring around here."

Rachel flopped down on the couch, pulling Leah with her. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's not actually dull here, it's just that everyone's really good at keeping secrets. Everyone's hiding the crazy."

Paul mused, "It's kind of a miracle that we haven't been found out, really. It's pretty hard to hide one bear-sized wolf, let alone seven of us."

Leah corrected him. "Nine. There are nine of us now."

For a while, they talked about the pups. Rachel, like Leah, was concerned about children phasing so young. But she quickly forgot about it when they told her about Sam’s claim that Emily was dead and the imprint broken. Rachel was skeptical. She wanted some kind of evidence, tangible proof, before she would believe it. She was more inclined to think that perhaps Emily had found a way to break the imprint, and Sam had felt it like a death. It made her hopeful that she might be able to break Paul’s imprint on her.

Leah was skeptical. As far as they knew, no imprint had ever been broken. There were stories of rejection, of protectors who felt as if their hearts had been cut out when their imprints refused them, but even those tales claimed that eventually, all the women changed their minds, leaving the couples blissfully happy for eternity. Old Quil still thought Emily would redeem herself and return. Rachel just rolled her eyes at the idea. “Emily’s a soulless harpy. If she can break her imprint, then so can I.”

Paul reminded her, “It was probably by dying. Which I guess is effective, but probably not what you’re going for.”

“Pssh. I’m cocky, not crazy. But I don’t want this imprint. I’m breaking it, and that’s final. Do you hear me? I’m breaking it!” Rachel yelled, her eyes darting around the room.

Paul looked at her like she was crazy. “Uh, yeah. I can hear you just fine.”

She waved her hand dismissively at him. “Shhh. I’m not talking to you.”

“Then who are you yelling at?” he asked.

“The spirits! Do you feel any different?” Rachel asked.

Paul cocked an eyebrow. “Uh, no.”

“Still imprinted on me?”

“Yeah. It couldn’t possibly be that simple,” he pointed out. “You can’t be the first girl in the history of the tribe to just yell that out into the air. If it were that easy, it would have happened already. So you have to do better than that.”

Rachel glared at him. “Hey. No need to be so snippy. I’m trying to do you a favor, here.”

“Try harder!” he retorted. Her face twisted into an irritable frown. For a moment, he felt guilty for snapping at her. But he wanted the imprint gone, and so did she. Paul knew enough from watching Sam and Jared that his control over the situation was limited. His gut told him that he didn’t have the power to break the imprint, no matter how much he didn’t want to believe it, and no matter how vehemently he insisted that he was still in charge of his fate. All the girls had the upper hand over their wolves, and he despised that a virtual stranger had such sweeping control over him. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do anything. The more he annoyed her, the less she liked him, and the harder she would try to sever their ties. “Or are you just as much of a disloyal bitch as Emily?”

"Paul!" Leah exclaimed.

“Excuse me?” Rachel was incensed. “You aren’t honestly comparing me with that jealous shrew.”

He leaned back in his chair, spreading his arms out and crossing his ankle over his knee, and generally acting like he owned the place. “If the shoe fits…”

“What? How? No way. I'm nothing like her. I care about Leah, and you can't tell me otherwise."

Paul was secretly happy to hear her answer, but it didn’t stop him from deliberately pissing her off more. "I can and I will! Hell, even Emily ditched Sam after a while. She walked away and left Sam behind. What's stopping you?"

"She didn't belong here! But I live here! This is my house!"

He scoffed. "Hardly. When was the last time you were here? Even Emily stuck around for a while and helped out. After high school, you ditched this place and never looked back. You abandoned your family as soon as you could."

Leah tried to cut him off. "Paul! Don't be such a jerk! Rachel has been really good to me, and..."

But Rachel didn't need Leah to defend her. She could do it herself. "Make up your mind. First you bitch at me for not leaving fast enough, now for not sticking around. I don’t want this. You know I don’t! I care way more about Leah than Emily ever did. And I’ve cared about her for a lot longer than you have!”

"You care about her? Then prove it!" he challenged her. "Get rid of this damn imprint! All three of us will be way happier, including you."

Rachel snapped, "I'm trying! But it's not like there's some damn cord I can cut with a pair of scissors. There aren't any magic words, or no one told me what they were. Besides, this isn't all about me. What are you doing to fight it off?"

Paul just smirked at her. That was when Leah figured out what was going on. "He's pissing you off, Rach."

Rachel huffed, "No shit! How do you stand this guy? Why are you with him, anyway? As far as I can tell, he's nothing but a giant dick!"

Leah just snorted in amusement. "Yeah, he sort of is. But I'm kind of a bitch, so we fit." She didn't explain further. Telling Rachel would only diffuse her anger, and might make her less likely to get so mad at Paul that the imprint snapped.

Rachel simply glared at Paul, willing the imprint to disappear. But it really wasn't that simple. Eventually Paul couldn't hold it in. Her evil eye was about as effective as that of an angry toddler. He began to snicker at her, and she didn't like that at all. "What the hell is your problem? Why are you laughing at me?"

"Are you trying to use Jedi mind tricks on me or something? Because it isn't working. It's just making you look stupid."

Rachel glowered at him, saying, "At least I'm trying something! You're useless, just pissing me off. At least I'm… Wait… Jedi mind tricks…" The pissed off expression faded away, but her eyes stayed focused directly at Paul until he became uncomfortable.

He broke the awkward, prolonged silence. “Uh… what’s going on?” When Rachel didn’t answer, he turned to Leah. “What’s she doing?”

Leah just shrugged. “Rach?”

“Hush.” Rachel dismissed her but continued staring at Paul.

Eventually he stood up. She was creeping him out, and since she wouldn’t explain herself, he decided to get out of her line of sight. “I’m getting a drink.”

While he was in the kitchen, Leah whispered, “Seriously. What are you doing? You look like a crazy person.” Rachel was still staring, this time at the wall, where Paul was on the other side.

Rachel just shushed her again. Paul returned, this time bearing three beers. Rachel’s jaw dropped open. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed.

Paul rolled his eyes at her. “What is it?” He handed one beer to Rachel, one to Leah, and sat down on Leah's other side.

"This is freaky," Rachel breathed.

"What is?" Leah asked, perplexed.

Rachel answered, "Hush now." Then she narrowed her eyes at Paul again, turning so she could keep glaring at him.

He leaned back, trying to keep Leah in between them. Rachel just tilted forward enough that she could keep him in her line of sight. He scooted back, and so did she. "This is stupid. Can we go now?" he asked Leah. He didn't want to admit it, but the way Rachel was staring at him unnerved him.

Leah tilted her head at Rachel. "I don't know..."

"Not yet," Rachel urged.

Paul finally tired of the one-sided staring contest and sighed. He tilted back his beer, swallowing it all down, and placed the bottle on the floor. Instead of sitting back on the couch cushion, he perched on the wide arm, turned Leah so she faced Rachel, and began to massage her shoulders.

Rachel grinned hugely and asked Leah, "Do your shoulders hurt?"

"I guess. My bones are all healed, but I’m kind of sore all over. But does that have to do with anything?” Leah wanted to know.

Rachel’s eyes twinkled. “And is Paul making you feel better?”

"Well, yeah, but..."

Rachel interrupted her to crow, "Oh, that is too good!"

"What's too good?" Leah pressed.

Rachel changed the subject. "Your cousin is a man-stealing whore, by the way!"

"I... What?” Leah sputtered.

“She’s not wrong,” Paul muttered.

Leah was perplexed. “What are you talking about? What’s going on?"

Rachel could hardly contain herself. "Tell her, Paul!"

A look of confusion crossed his face before he intoned, "I... have to do... what my imprint wants... And she wants me... to be... your... slave?"

"What?!" he and Leah yelled at once as he registered what he had just said.

Rachel began to cackle with laughter. "Oh my god, this is too much! Relax, guys! I was just testing a theory."

"What crackpot theory was that?" Leah demanded.

Rachel sat back and folded her arms across her chest, looking supremely satisfied. "That he doesn't just have to do what I want for me; that if I want him to, he has to do whatever you want him to do. Were you thirsty just a few minutes ago?”

“Yeah,” Leah realized. “And I was kind of craving...”

Rachel finished, “A beer, right?”

Leah’s jaw dropped open, and she turned to Paul. “How did you know that?”

“I didn’t!” he insisted. “I just wanted to get something to drink. She’s being an idiot. It’s just a coincidence.”

“And you just randomly felt like giving Leah a massage, right?” Rachel asked. When he just frowned in response, she snickered. “I'm using my powers for good rather than for evil!"

Leah looked as if someone had just slapped her, and then her eyes flashed. With a grin, she turned to Paul. "So if I tell you to kiss my feet, do you have to do it?"

Paul pouted. “Kiss my ass, Clearwater.”

Rachel wanted to see if she could force Paul to do it, but Leah stopped her. She told Rachel that as much as she appreciated the sentiment, she wanted him to be himself, not a brainwashed slave, even if she got to receive the benefits of his service. The three of them debated Rachel’s discovery until Jacob returned. He had talked with Sam at length, and he was concerned enough about Sam’s assertion that Emily was dead that he wanted to investigate. Sue was planning on talking with Emily’s mother and sister to see if they knew anything, and he had talked to Rosalie, who offered the services of her lawyer to try to track her down. If both came up empty, he would take Embry and try to track her on foot. “I wouldn’t mind coming,” Paul offered. “If she’s dead, I kind of want to see for myself. And if she’s not, I’d like to give her a piece of my mind.”

“You have graduation,” Jacob pointed out. “You can’t miss it. Besides, somebody needs to keep everything organized around here. Between Sam, Collin, and Brady, we’ve already got our hands full. You think you’re up for it, Leah?”

She didn’t understand. “Up for what?”

“Somebody needs to be in charge if I leave,” he said. “I’d consider Embry, but I want him to come with me. Jared’s only priority is Kim, so he can’t be objective about anything. Quil’s… Quil, and you know I’m not going to ask Sam. Your brother’s a great kid, but he’s a kid. If I ask Paul, he’ll just order Sam to stick his head up his own ass…”

Paul barked out a laugh. “I totally would.”

“So how about it? You don’t have to be beta forever. I know you guys want to get out of here. Just until we get back?"

Leah found herself nodding without thinking about it. “Yeah, okay.”

Paul snickered. "Sucker."

She paused and frowned. “Wait, what did I get myself into?”

“Too late! No take-backs!” Jacob pointed at her.

Leah frowned. “What are you, five?”

Jacob shrugged. “I’m a kid at heart. And you’re a glutton for punishment.”

X-x-x-x-X

Sue was unable to find out anything about Emily. She hadn’t told her mother or sister anything, said nothing about problems with Sam, nor told them she was leaving La Push. She simply disappeared. Jacob wanted to go look for her, but Leah urged him to wait a little longer. After all, he had no idea where to start looking. He took her advice and waited one more day. His patience paid off. Rosalie called the next morning with more information, obtained through her lawyer. They tracked her credit card purchases, which revealed that she had gone to Oregon. For several days, however, no purchases had been made. Jacob decided it was as good a starting point as any. He left the pack in charge of Leah, and he and Embry headed south.

Leah had her hands full with Collin and Brady. Neither boy had any control over phasing. Brady nearly exposed himself to his elderly neighbor when he changed back into human form in his backyard, and Collin was terrified to leave the house at all. Paul thought he was exaggerating in an attempt to get Leah's attention, because his crush on her was so obvious. Then he transformed at the dinner table when his mother handed him a glass of water instead of the orange juice he asked for, and she decided that someone needed to stay with him at all times. At first, she did it herself. It was a good excuse to avoid Sam. But when Paul spotted the boy sneaking a peek at her in the woods while she shifted into her nude, human body, he took over babysitting duties. When she wasn't listening, he quietly threatened to remove the boy's eyes with rusty spoons if he ever looked at her the wrong way again. After that, Collin wouldn't even look her in the eye.

Sam managed to find her while Paul was getting ready for his graduation ceremony that evening, which was being held at the tribal hall. She hadn't seen Sam since Jacob released him from house arrest, and she had hoped to put him off as long as possible. She still had no idea what to say to him. He approached her while she walked between the Littleseas' house and her mother's, where she was going to shower and change. She heard him coming, but she ignored him until he spoke. "Hi, Lee Lee," he said softly. She turned around to see him shuffling behind her, his shoulders stooped, his hands stuffed into his pockets. He looked terrible. Dark circles sat under bloodshot eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days.

“Hey.” She glanced briefly at him, understood that there was no emergency, and kept walking.

He fell into step beside her. “I wanted to apologize for the other day.”

Dismissively, she said, “You were confused, upset. Let’s forget about it.”

“I wasn’t confused,” he denied. “Every day before that? Yeah. My brain was scrambled from the moment I saw Emily. But what I said to you, I meant all of it.” He argued with her, but his tone lacked the frantic, crazed quality it held previously. “It just came out badly. I pushed too hard. And you weren’t ready to hear it.”

She wasn’t sure she would ever be read to hear him out. She felt as if every time she managed to gain some kind of equilibrium, some kind of control over her life, something came along to throw everything into chaos again. “I’m not ready to hear it today either.”

To her surprise, he just accepted her answer. “Okay.” But he kept walking beside her. “How’re the boys?”

She eyed him skeptically. “Brady and Collin? As well as can be expected, I guess. Too young, though.”

“Fourteen?”

“Thirteen. Just finished seventh grade.”

He kicked a rock out of the path. “Man, they're just kids. Hopefully they’ll develop good control over themselves over the summer, and they won’t have to miss any school next year. I hope no one else phases. We should never have let the Cullens come back.”

Though she agreed with him, she knew there hadn’t been any way to prevent it. “It's not like they asked permission. By the time you phased, they'd already been back for months, hadn't they? And then what were you going to do? Run them off all by yourself?"

"I know," he sighed. "I guess what I really want is for them to have never come back. Everything went wrong after that." She remained silent. She had spent endless hours wishing to turn back time, but no longer. It was a futile exercise, resulting only in heartache. "If I could erase the past few months, I would," he told her.

She knew he was telling the truth. He would wind back the clock if he could. Would she? She shook her head. It was a pointless question with a pointless answer. "You can't," she reminded him.

"I know." His voice was full of pain. "Do you know the last thing I remember? I feel like it's the last real thing that happened."

Her heart started to pound. She knew what he was talking about. For a while, he had forgotten, but she hadn't. She had the memory it over and over in the days after, searching for any signs that he was unhappy, that their time together was nearly over. She was sick of remembering. She wished the memory stayed buried in his psyche, because dragging it out and looking at it would only hurt them both. "Sam, don't..."

His voice was rough. "Do you remember? You were looking at wedding magazines in the living room, and I was looking at you."

Her chest constricted. She didn't want to think about this. She tried to cut him off. "It doesn't matter..."

"You wanted dahlias," he continued. "I didn't actually know what they looked like."

Tears involuntarily sprung to her eyes, and her chest began to ache. "There's no point. Don't torture yourself this way." What she thought was, _Don't torture me this way._

Undeterred, he pressed on. His voice was thick with emotion. "We made love. It was so, so good, so amazing, like it always was. You were so beautiful, Lee Lee. Just as beautiful as you are now."

She swallowed hard and told him, "Just stop. Why are you doing this? We can't go back."

"We were so happy," he continued. "We can be so happy again."

Now her temper flared. He was using gentle words and tugging at her heartstrings instead of issuing orders and threats, but she recognized it for what it was. He was still trying to manipulate her. But it wouldn't work. "I am happy! I'm finally happy again, without you. In spite of you!"

But he persisted. "Then why are you crying?" He reached out to wipe the tears from her cheeks with his fingers, but she flinched away from him. He yanked back, devastated. "Oh, sweetheart, you can't think I would hurt you."

Bitterly, she answered, "Of course I can. I know what you're capable of."

He thought she was talking about Emily's scars. His expression hardened, and he clenched his fists. "Shit. Is that going to follow me around forever? Even now that she’s gone? Do you know what really happened that night? Do you?"

"Of course." Leah repeated what she had heard. "You accidentally phased when she told you to leave her alone and come back to me."

"No!" he yelled. "That's not what happened! She had everybody convinced, including me. I even remembered it the way she wanted. But that's not what happened. It's all clear now. She got pissed, so unbelievably angry and jealous, when I told her how much I missed you, how much I still loved you. She knew how badly I wanted you back, and she screamed at me, said I betrayed her, called me a liar and a cheating bastard. I knew how angry I was getting, so I backed away. But she was furious. She followed me out and slapped me in the face, and I phased. I wasn't trying to hurt her. It was involuntary..."

She was surprised, but now that she knew Emily's true nature, it was plausible. Despite everything that had happened between them, she felt bad for him, for Emily, for all of them. "Oh, I didn't know. Is that really what happened?"

He moved in front of her and faced her. She had to stop walking, since he was directly in her path. "Yeah. I know you think I never fought for you, but it's not true. Things were totally fucked up back then, and obviously I didn't beat it. I didn't try hard enough. I didn't find a way. And I'm ashamed of that. But I still had these moments when things were clear, times when I could feel you. I didn't stop loving you, and she knew it. But after that happened, she just had me. The guilt and shame… Not that I didn't deserve it. What I did to her was unforgivable, but it was an accident."

Sincerely, she told him, "I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"No one did," he said. "She rewrote history. Even I believed that it happened the way she said, and I was there."

Perhaps she was being naive, but she believed him. She couldn't look in his eyes, at the regret on his face, and to do otherwise. She had always been able to read him like a book, before. "She changed everything, didn't she?"

He tentatively reached out to touch her cheek. "Not everything. She couldn't erase the way I feel about you. Nothing can change that."

She shied away from his touch. Gentle and tender though it was, it was harder to bear than cruel words or his hand raised against her in anger. "Sam," she pleaded, "we can't go back. We can't turn back time and erase what happened. It's impossible."

As she started to walk away, unable to hold back her tears, he tried to follow her. "Then we build something new! If we can't pick up where we left off, we start fresh, we start over."

She couldn't tell him what he wanted to hear. He was putting her in an impossible position, and on the day of her boyfriend's graduation. She wanted to focus on Paul tonight, not on Sam. "You need to give me some space, Sam."

He did the opposite. He held her upper arm, but not tightly. "I know I should. But I can't leave you alone when you're upset like this."

She shook her arm free and pointed out, "You're the one who upset me, though. Manhandling me and stalking me doesn't make me more sympathetic to you. Don't make me give you an order."

He finally backed away, his hands up in the air. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'll let you be. Just don't forget what I said."

As if she could. She sprinted home with tears running down her cheeks. She rushed through a tepid shower, and tried to put him out of her mind as she dressed. While she pulled on a dress and dried her hair, she willed her bloodshot, teary eyes to clear before she saw Paul again. He shouldn't have to think about Sam today. It was bad enough that the pack couldn't be there to celebrate his and Jared's graduation. Between Jacob and Embry leaving to look for Emily, Quil watching over Collin, and Seth babysitting Brady, the only people who would attend the ceremony were Kim and Leah. Hopefully Paul's father decided to make an appearance. His son would only get his high school diploma once. Leah had only met him once in passing. He had spotted her coming up the drive on the way to the house while he was leaving, and had nodded briefly to her before winking at his son.

By the time she finished getting ready, Leah's eyes had dried. She checked herself once more in the mirror and decided that she looked fine. She had even washed Sam's scent off, so Paul wouldn't smell him on her. She would tell him about Sam later, but not until after the ceremony. She wouldn't let Sam spoil his night.

Just as she grabbed her keys off the hook on the wall, the house phone rang. She thought about ignoring it, but her aunt Linda's number appeared on the caller ID. It was her brother. Brady had somehow managed to scratch himself while phasing in the laundry room, leaving a deep gash in his arm and denting the washer. Seth wasn't particularly concerned, but he couldn't calm down their aunt. Could she come check the wound before going to graduation? Leah acquiesced. If she met Paul at the tribal hall instead of his house, they could both make it on time. She called him with the change of plans, and then she got in her car.

Brady was fine, just like she knew he would be. He had scared himself, and in his panic, he had spread enough blood through the laundry room and down the hall to make it look like a murder had been committed, but the wound was closed by the time she arrived. Linda and Brady were amazed at the way his skin healed before their very eyes, and they marveled over his strange abilities while Seth took a sponge to the wall. When she left, Brady was yelling to Seth, saying something incomprehensible about having adamantium blades installed on his claws.

As Leah pulled out of the driveway, she flipped on the radio and grinned when one of her favorite songs began to play. Leah smiled to herself, thinking of her cousin's giddy expression when he realized he was fine. Even she had to admit that there were some advantages to their unusual genetics.

She glanced down at the clock on the dashboard, checking the time. She didn't want to be late, and she wasn't sure exactly how long she had spent at her cousin's house. Unfortunately, Harry's old car had some wiring problems, and the clock's display blinked in and out. She meant to ask Jacob to fix it, but had lost track of the minor detail. Right now, it showed nothing. Leah made a fist and thumped at the dash. Sometimes jolting it could jiggle the wire back into place.

She only glanced down for a second, but that was all it took for someone to appear in the street ahead of her. Leah saw the body out of the corner of her eye, slammed on the breaks, cursed, and swerved. But her supernatural reflexes weren't enough. Absurd as it seemed, the figure moved, almost faster than she could see, directly in the path of the car. Leah caught a glimpse of a slim body leaning forward. It was slight, and should have been thrown back several yards by the impact. But as they made contact, the hood of the car crumpled inward, yet the figure remained still. In the millisecond before the airbag deployed, Leah caught a glimpse of a familiar face, but drained of all blood, sharpened into predatory refinement, and hardened into a cold, dead thing with ashy, gray skin and bright red eyes.

 

 


	36. True Colors

Paul fidgeted uncomfortably, overheated in his rented cap and gown. He didn't like wearing tee shirts, let alone voluminous layers of polyester. He tugged at the elastic band on the cap. Along with the dress shirt and tie he wore, he felt as if he wasn't getting enough blood flow to his brain. His father, Allen, noticed his discomfort as he to look at the door for the tenth time. He looked past the assembled graduates and families packed into the hall, but didn't see the only person he really cared about. Allen said, "I'm sure she's coming, son. Beautiful girls like her always run late. Have to put on their faces and do their hair, and all."

"Maybe," Paul answered off-handedly. He knew he didn’t have any reason to be anxious, but he felt uneasy anyway. She was probably still helping Brady. "She's a pretty low maintenance girl, at least when it comes to makeup and stuff."

Allen leaned back in his folding chair, almost tipping it into the knees of the parent who sat behind him. "I'll bet she's pretty high maintenance in every other way, right? In my experience, girls who look that good are usually hiding a hell of a lot of crazy just under the surface."

Paul shrugged and checked his watch again, wondering if she would make it in time. He knew she was doing something important, but he really wanted her there. And something in his gut told him that something was wrong. Hopefully it was nothing, or at least, nothing more than two new pups phasing, Leah’s crazy ex obsessing over her, and Emily’s absence. “Guess she's my kind of crazy, then." He watched the tribal school principal walk up to the lectern at the front of the hall. She asked the small class of graduates to gather in the front row, and he stood, watching the front door. Leah would walk in at any moment with a wink and a smile, wouldn’t she?

His father urged, “Get on up there. I think they're waiting on you before they start.”

Jared grabbed his arm and pulled him to the front, whispering, "What are you doing, man? Come sit. Kim saved you a seat with us."

"Leah's not here," Paul explained.

"She’s helping one of the pups, right? Sorry it’s taking so long. I’m sure she’d rather be here. But your dad’s here, so that’s cool."

"Yeah. I just have kind of a bad feeling…"

Jared shrugged. "She's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

"But a lot of weird shit has been going on lately, and she’s not indestructible, even though she acts like she is."

The principal began to address the assembled guests with a wide smile. Jared whispered, "Just chill. I'm sure she's fine. She’ll be here any second."

But Paul didn't believe it. Something was wrong. He just didn't know what. He regretted not walking out before the program started. He was totally unconcerned about the ceremony itself, but if he tried to leave right now, someone would follow him out to see what was wrong. He gritted his teeth in frustration and willed her to show up.

Only a few minutes went by, but they felt like hours. He didn’t hear a word the principal said. When the valedictorian's speech was interrupted by the sound of a piercing wolf howl, Paul didn't hesitate. He sprang out of his chair, sprinted up the aisle, and bolted out the front door. He managed to pull his cap and gown off without tearing them, leaving them lying in the grass, but his only pair of dress pants ripped at the seams when he phased the second he was out of sight. Behind him, he faintly heard the principal trying to regain everyone's attention. He was lucky. She was a member of the council of elders and knew what he was. He didn't know what cover story she would come up with, nor did he care.   
  
_What's going on? Where’s Leah?_ he demanded. He could already feel that she wasn’t present amongst the cacophony of voices in his head.

He saw the answer through Sam's eyes, and the image made his heart stop. _I just found it like this. I don't know what happened._ In front of the other wolf sat a silver sedan. It was totaled, the front end accordioned inward and the windshield smashed in a web of angular cracks. Bizarrely, the roof looked like someone had peeled it open like the lid on a can of sardines.

Seth recognized the vehicle immediately. It belonged to his father. _Where's Leah? Where's my sister?_

The driver’s seat sat empty.

Jared phased behind him. He felt Seth’s panic reverberating through the pack mind. It echoed his own. At the same time, another voice asked, _Where are you? Are you in the woods? Where's the road? How'd she get out there?_ It was Embry.

Sam answered none of the questions. His mind was in a state of panic. _Shit, guys. I smell leech all over the car. And it's strong. Oh, goddamn it!_

 _Is there any blood?_ Jared asked.

Sam rounded the side of the vehicle, and what he saw sent a physical pain straight into Paul’s heart. _Fuck. Yes, there is._ A trail of thick, dark liquid trailed down the remnants of the driver's side window, puddling on the ground. Sam took a closer look. A few more drops stained the driver’s seat and a small amount lined the jagged edges of the torn roof. Music wafted incongruously from the speakers.

Before he could investigate further, Jacob issued an instruction. _Don't worry about the car right now. Can you track the scent?_

Sam immediately twisted away. He reprimanded himself for wasting precious seconds. _Yeah. This is fresh._ He sniffed around the site and immediately figured out which way to go. _I just smell one leech, and they dragged her off this way._ He darted further into the woods.

 _Tell me what happened!_ Paul demanded as he sprinted toward Sam. He was running so fast that Jared couldn’t keep up.

 _I don't know!_  Sam insisted. A memory flashed through his mind for a second, an image of Leah standing in the woods, his hand held out to catch a tear on her cheek. He hid it as soon as he realized that he had slipped. _There are skid marks on the road where I think she must have run into the vamp. But the car was actually pretty far into the woods, way off the street. There's no way she drove it to where I found it._

Before Paul could yell at Sam for harassing Leah, Embry speculated, _That could be one of the ones we're tracking. We found a trail. It seems to be heading back toward you guys._

Jacob added, _We found a dead body down by Aberdeen. Looked like a homeless guy. He was cold by the time we found him, unfortunately. We were tracking two vamp scents, and they obviously got to him. One was familiar, the same one we found alongside Victoria's, back before we killed her. It's probably Riley, that guy that Jasper turned._

 _The one over here isn't Riley,_ Sam said. _I've never smelled it before, although I do think there's something strange about it that I can't figure out._

Seth, who had turned tail and started running as soon as Sam found the car, asked, _How far away are you guys?_

Jacob answered, _About an hour away. We're outside Kalaloch. We were outside Portland looking for Emily, at one of the hotels she had charged to her card, and picked up these trails. They headed north, so we were on our way up anyway._ He started to issue instructions. He recognized the pups listening quietly. They were frightened and trying to stay out of the way. _Brady and Collin, head for the council hall. Stay phased somewhere out of sight, and keep an eye on everyone. There are so many people gathered over there tonight. Make sure they're safe. Jared, you stick with them, okay?_ He knew Jared wouldn't want to stray too far from Kim, who was inside with the rest of the graduates. _Quil, see if you can get a hold of Rosalie. See if she knows anything. Then try to catch up with Sam, Seth and Paul._ He knew they were on their way to Leah no matter what he told them to do.

 _Got it._ Everyone split off to follow his directions.

 _Did you actually find out what happened to Emily?_ Jared asked.

Jacob replied, _No, unfortunately. The desk clerk wouldn't tell us anything, which I guess shouldn't be a surprise. But there will be time to figure out what happened after we get Leah back, and after we take out Riley and this new leech._

Embry speculated, _I wonder if they're the reason that Brady and Collin just phased? I hope it's just the two of them, but there could be more._

Jacob told everyone, _Keep an eye out for anything else that seems suspicious. But let's concentrate on getting Leah back, and then we'll figure out the rest._

 _Why isn't she phased in?_ Seth asked. _If a vamp grabbed her, how come she didn't turn wolf to fight them off?_

No one wanted to answer, but they were all thinking the same thing. _If she was in any condition to fight, she would be._ That she was not, most likely meant that she was already dead.

Paul screamed, _No! She's alive. I'm certain. She has to be. We're going to get her back._

His voice filled with anxiety, Sam told them, _She's losing blood, though._ The trail was frighteningly easy to follow between the fresh stench of leech and the droplets of Leah's blood that spotted the ground. _Fuck. Where is she? Why haven't I caught up yet?_

Jacob tried to reassure him. _You'll find her. It looks like a lot, but it's probably not actually that much. It doesn't look like she could bleed out from that, anyway._ None of them were particularly comforted by his words, so he refocused them. _Any ideas where they may be taking her? Where do you think you're going, Sam?_

Sam had no idea. _I'm just following the trail. But unless it starts to turn, there's not much between here and the ocean._

 _Could they be going to a boat?_ Seth asked.

Sam didn't think so. _The marina isn't this way, and the shoreline in this area is too rocky to tie a boat up. Plus, what would a Cold One need a boat for? They don't have to breathe._

 _But Leah does,_ Seth said.

A few minutes later, Quil phased back in. _Rosalie didn't know anything, but offered to come help. She's on her way._

Jacob reminded the pups, _If you see her, resist the urge to attack. She's a friend._

After that, they were largely silent. Seth's anxiety was palpable but wordless. Paul wasn't faring much better, but he could run faster than her brother, and he could catch up to Sam a little sooner.

Even at top speed, however, he couldn't reach Sam before the former Alpha reached the cliffs. _They're close. The stench is awful._ He referred to the foul burning in his nostrils, but the iron of Leah's blood was strong as well.

Seth didn't understand where his sister could be. All Sam saw in front of him was a sharp drop off. Three hundred feet below, rough waves broke onto the jagged rocks jutting out of the sea. They never went cliff diving here; it was too treacherous even for them. _Where is she? Where's Leah? Did they just drag her into the water?_

 _No,_ Sam said. _There._ Beneath him was a narrow ledge. It was too far down to be easily accessible to a normal human, but a vampire would have no difficulty. Neither did he. He landed gracefully on four paws, though he barely fit on the small space.

His pack brothers still didn't see where he was going. _That leads nowhere,_ Jared protested. _Where are you going?_

 _She's here,_ Sam insisted. _I know it._ More red blood was smeared against the wall. As soon as he saw the next outcropping several yards beneath him, he jumped again.

He repeated the process three more times, dropping down, and down, and down, before he finally saw it: the mouth of a cave.

 _Do you hear her breathing?_ Paul asked. _Her heartbeat?_

 _The waves are too loud. I can't tell. But it doesn't matter._ With one more leap, Sam reached the last ledge.

He was so focused on finding Leah that he ignored the question Jacob was asking in the background. _I don't see a way up or down from there. Where are they going from there? Does that cave lead somewhere?_

It took several seconds for Sam's eyes to adjust to the dim light in the cave, but he knew the figures in front of him before their features could come into focus. He would recognize them anywhere. "Sam," the vampire said. "You came."

Horrified, infuriated cries reverberated through the pack mind as Sam began to snarl at the thing that used to be his imprint. She stood before him, holding Leah's limp, nude body in front of her as a shield. _Emily. Fuck, it's her! I should have known!_

"I've missed you, my love," Emily intoned. She didn't seem at all surprised to see him. Her voice was unrecognizable, and it grated on his ears. The color of her skin was washed out, and had faded from its rich caramel into a dull, inhuman gray. Her strength was apparent. Though Leah was taller, Emily held her unconscious body using one forearm lodged tightly against her neck, her other hand pressed against her forehead. Her eyes were blood red and unblinking. Her expression was frighteningly, inhumanly calm. Strangest of all, her once-scarred face was entirely unlined.

On the other hand, Leah was covered in lacerations in various stages of healing. The largest one opened the soft skin of her belly from the edge of her sternum all the way to her hip. Her hair was matted with blood, though Sam couldn't tell how many head wounds she had sustained. Her arms and legs were webbed with cuts and battered with bruises. Her eyes were closed, and her posture was slumped and boneless. Her breathing was shallow and rapid, and her pulse raced much too quickly.

Brady, silent until then, didn't understand what was happening. He had met Emily a few times at the Clearwater house, and she had always been friendly, if a bit shy. _Wait, what's happening? What happened to Emily? Why's she doing that to Leah?_

 _Because she's a jealous, hateful bitch,_ Paul growled. _She embraced the monster she always was._

 _Was she attacked?_ Collin asked. _How did she turn into one of them?_

Paul was indifferent. _I don't know, and I don't care. How that particular vampire was born is of no concern to me. I only care about how she dies._

It was actually Jared who believed, _No, if she was attacked, Sam would have known. He'd have felt her in danger. And as bad as the last few days were, you never felt that way, did you?_

 _No,_ Sam admitted. _She wasn't scared, wasn't worried. I would have known._

 _Who cares? She hurt Leah! Take her out!_ Quil snarled. _Rip that bitch to shreds!_

 _I have to get Leah away from her first,_ Sam realized, looking at the deliberate way Emily gripped Leah's skull. _Otherwise she'll snap her neck._

"Sam?" Emily asked. "I know this is a surprise. But it's a good thing, I promise you."

Embry asked, _What the fuck is that delusional bitch talking about?_

 _I'm going to have to phase to talk to her,_ Sam realized.

Jacob told him, _Do whatever it takes. We'll be blind, yeah, but you can stall her until backup arrives._

 _Are you out of your mind?_ Paul challenged. _You can't leave Leah to that crazy asshole and his monster of an imprint! Her life is at stake!_

Sam immediately became defensive. _I'm not going to hurt her! I love her! I'm going to protect her!_

 _At Emily's expense?_ Paul scoffed. _No way. You're her pawn at best, her accomplice at worst. No. There has to be another way._

Emily frowned at Sam's delay and tightened her hold around Leah's neck. They could see her struggling to breathe. "Sam? You have to listen to me, but we don’t have much time. But I don't want to talk to the pack. I want to talk to you. Alone."

 _No!_ Paul yelled. _Don't leave them alone! She'll order him to hurt Leah just to prove she can, and he'll do it! He doesn't have will of his own._

 _I won't hurt her!_ Sam insisted. _Leah is everything to me, just like she used to be. The imprint died when Emily died._

 _He's telling the truth,_ Jacob realized. _The imprint is gone. We can all see it. Sam, do what you have to. Just keep Leah safe._

Paul yelled, _God damn it, no!_ But Sam was already gone.

He unwrapped his shorts from his ankle and pulled them on, though Emily just smirked at him. “What are you doing, sweetheart? Suddenly feeling modest? It's not like I've never seen it all before."

The creature in front of him repulsed him as much as the imprint had enraptured him, and he couldn't believe he had ever let her touch him. He resisted the instinctive urge to tear her head off, or at least to tell her how much she sickened him. If he gave into his base instincts, it would only increase the likelihood that Leah would die. He had to stall until he could figure out a way to get her away from Emily. “What the hell happened?”

She pointed to her face, proudly turning her smooth cheeks toward him for inspection. “Amazing, isn’t it? I know, it takes some getting used to. Surprised to see me like this?”

“You know I am,” Sam said carefully. “Can you put Leah down, and you and I can talk?”

She aimed a huge smile at him, thinking she would dazzle him with the radiance that she had already learned lured humans close, but he only saw her deadly fangs and inhuman expression. “Oh, you and I definitely need to talk. Why do you think I came back?”

“Just put Leah down, and you can tell me. I’ll listen,” he promised.

She snorted and ignored his request. “We have forever to talk, darling, and I know you’ll listen. You always have. Of course, there was always something in the way, someone in the way, so you couldn’t see me or hear me the way you were supposed to. But not for much longer.”

She glanced down at Leah and traced a single, sharp nail along the ugly wound there. With rising horror, Sam understood why the large gash wasn't healing. Emily kept opening it back up. Leah groaned in pain but remained unconscious. Before she could do any more damage, Sam gritted his teeth and lied. “I’ve been worried sick about you. I felt you. Or, I guess, felt your transformation. The pain was so bad, I was so afraid, that I honestly thought I would die without you. Please, tell me what happened. Who did this to you? I’ll kill them for hurting you!”

Emily’s laugh would have sounded like bells to a human, but to a wolf, it was worse than nails on chalkboard. She explained, “Yes, it hurt all right. But it was more than worth it, don’t you think?” She dropped the hand that was cutting into Leah and gestured at her whole body. "He did me a favor."

"Who is 'he'? Who did this?"

"Does it matter?"

He could tell she didn't trust him, not entirely. The way he had growled at her when he first saw her was too aggressive and obvious. He wished he has been able to suppress the urge, but it was too late. All he could do was try to convince her he was on her side until he could get Leah to safety. "The monster that did this hurt you. You'd better believe it matters to me."

"Yes, but I was warned. I knew what I was getting into, so don't go around looking for revenge. It'll only get you into trouble. Besides, I can take care of myself now. I don't need anyone to fight my battles."

"Is that why you're here, to fight? Why do you have Leah? I don't understand. Help me understand."

She ducked her chin and peered up at him in what was probably supposed to be a coy, seductive pose. “Don’t you know? I’m here for you!”

He was floored. Did she think the imprint bond still held them together? Could she be serious, or was this some kind of bizarre trick? She was a vampire. There was no way she wanted him any longer. They were mortal enemies. Perhaps she wanted him dead? He crouched down in a defensive position. "Then put Leah down. I'm right here."

She laughed again. "Silly, I'm not here to fight now. I'm here for you. I'm here because we can finally be together."

"What are you talking about? You're a Cold One!"

"I'm still your imprint," she said smoothly. He could hardly believe his ears. How had she missed the physical sensation of it breaking? Did she actually believe that, or was she testing him? "In fact, this is the best thing that's ever happened to us. I'm like you now."

Was she insane? Had she completely lost her mind when she turned, or had it happened earlier? "How the hell are you like me?" He strained to hear any signs of the approaching pack, but they had not yet arrived. He had to stall her longer.

She shifted her grip to the back of Leah's neck and lifted her high into the air with just one hand. "I'm strong now." Then she spun on her heel and flung Leah's limp body against the rocky wall behind her. "Stronger than her." Sam ran forward, but Emily was between him and Leah, and she easily deflected him with a surprisingly strong blow to the chest. Then she jammed her knee into the back of Leah’s neck, ready to snap it. "Faster, too." She punched the wall beside her, and rocks came tumbling down onto Leah. "Her body is pathetic compared to mine. So fragile.” Her lips turned up in a delighted smile, and her expression stopped Sam in his tracks. “I could kill her with just the right pressure here.” She pressed her knee more firmly into Leah’s neck. He didn’t dare come closer for fear of Emily making good on her threat. “It would be as easy as this.” She reached down, stroking Leah’s hand in a deceptively gentle fashion, then casually bent back a finger until it snapped. Leah cried out in pain, but though her body shook, she did not regain consciousness.

Sam had to force himself not to phase, but he couldn’t quell the furious tremor from his voice. “What the fuck are you doing? Get off of her!”

Emily pouted. “But Sammy, I’m doing this for us. I did this for you.”

He shook his head. There was no way she was pinning responsibility on him. He roared, “You can’t be serious. You’re a vampire! How the hell did this happen?”

“It happened because I decided to take control of my life, of my fate!” She saw Sam’s anger and, in a movement almost too quick to see, stood and used Leah as a shield again, securing her in a chokehold. “I’ve had enough of being the pathetic one, the plain one, the weak one. Why does she get to live forever? What did she do to deserve it? Nothing!”

“You asked for this, didn’t you? Did you have someone turn you on purpose?”

“Of course I did! How else was I supposed to fix my life? Things were bad enough before you ruined me.” She pointed at her once-scarred face. “What did I have, living in her shadow? Nothing I ever did was good enough. She was always the beautiful one, the smart one, the fun one. What was I, besides her plain, boring, dull cousin? Do you know how many of my boyfriends had their eyes on her? They were supposed to love me, not her! And the whole time, she had you! You’re my soulmate, not hers! You never looked at me, never saw me, never thought twice about me, all because she was standing in the way. But I knew you and I were supposed to be together! I would be so much better for you! She was always so selfish, always thinking of what she wanted, of what she had to have. She didn’t take care of you! I could take care of you so much better! I cared about you so much more than she ever did, but you never saw it. You never gave me a chance.” Emily had such a tight grip around Leah’s neck that she was starting to turn red. Her other hand held Leah’s arm so tightly that capillaries were starting to burst under the skin. “But then you imprinted on me, and for once, I was finally getting what I deserved. Everything started to fall into place, finally. You and I were meant to be, don’t you see that? Even the Spirits think so! They turned you toward me for a reason. But still, still she was in the way! Even after you imprinted on me. If it wasn’t for her, you’d never have hurt me…”

Sam interrupted her, trying to distract her from choking Leah, “That was me! If you want to blame someone, blame me! It was my fault. I’ve always known it, you’ve always known it. Everyone knows it! If you’re angry with someone, be angry with me! If you need to hurt someone, hurt me!”

An expression of concern crossed Emily’s features, and she loosened her grip unconsciously. “Sam, I don’t blame you. If it wasn’t for her, for the hold she had on you, it would never have happened. You never would have hurt me. I know that. It’s no coincidence that it was her we were arguing about when you cut me. It wasn’t your fault. It was hers! Don’t blame yourself. Fate has a plan for you. The Spirits have a plan for you. You phased first because you are the rightful Alpha of the pack, and you are supposed to be the Alpha in ten years, fifty, a hundred. That’s your path. You can have forever. Who wouldn’t want that? That’s why I don’t blame you.”

He no longer had any idea what she was talking about, or what it had to do with Leah. She had truly lost her mind. Perhaps it had happened long before she turned into a monster. “I don’t understand. That’s not how it works. That’s not what I want!” He remembered wanting it for a time, but now he knew the desire belonged to her, not to him.

She insisted, “The tribe needs you, and they’ll always need you. I know that. You would be the greatest chief who ever lived, and I could be by your side, supporting you, guiding you, loving you. But for how long? I was going to grow old. It would be so ridiculous. You’d still be a healthy young man, and eventually people would think I was your mother, your grandmother.” She took a shaky, unnecessary breath, and Sam thought that if she was still human, she might have shed a tear. “She could give you something else, something I couldn’t give you. I understand why you wanted to keep her by your side. It would be torture to watch everyone else you knew grow old and die, and you didn’t want to be alone. I understand that, and as much as it kills me, I don’t blame you.”

“You should blame me!” He finally understood. Emily somehow knew about his ridiculous, imprint-addled plan to keep Leah with him forever, and she blamed Leah for it. “That wasn’t her idea, and it wasn't mine! I don't want to live forever. That's insane, and it was never going to happen!”

“That's her fault! If she hadn’t gotten between us, everything would be different. But she couldn’t let you go, even once you made it totally clear that you didn’t want her anymore. She never should have come back, and when she did, she should have left you alone. But I know she seduced you. I know she planted thoughts in your brain, words in your ear. I know she made you want her again.”

“That’s not what happened!” he insisted. “She did nothing wrong! She tried to stay away from me. She wanted nothing to do with me! I broke her heart, and she hated me!”

Emily said, “The line between love and hate? It’s barely there. I know she still wanted you, and she wouldn’t rest until she got you back. And as much as I hate to admit it, I understand. She had so much to offer you that I did not. It wasn’t fair! You touch me once, and I’m scarred forever, but wounds disappear from her skin like they were never there?" She plunged her nails into the healing skin on Leah's abdomen, rending it open once more. Leah whimpered and squirmed, and her eyes blinked open twice, but she did not regain consciousness.

"Please, stop!" Sam begged her.

Emily ignored him. "And she doesn’t just have you still fawning over her, she gets Paul, too? Plus she lives forever and never ages? It’s not fair!”

“So you did what, got yourself turned to even the score?” he asked incredulously. Who was Emily? Did he ever really know her?

She hissed, “Of course I did! What choice did I have? Fate just handed everything to her, like always, without her lifting a finger. Me? I have to work for what I have! I earned it! I did this because I deserve it!”

“Fucking hell, Emily. At what cost?” he challenged, thinking of the innocent hiker she had already killed. There was no doubt in his mind that she had fed from the man Jacob and Embry had found. “Cold Ones are murderers! What about the people you kill to survive? Did you stop to think about them before you did this?”

“It was worth it!” she declared. “I did this for you, don’t you understand? I asked Riley to do this so that you and I can be together as equals! Now you don’t need her! Now we can have forever together!”

Sam took a deep breath and forced himself not to scream at her. Instead, he told her something Leah had told him. "But we can't go back. We can't turn back time and change what happened. You're a Cold One, and I'm a Protector. Nature itself dictates that we can't be together. Just put her down, and I'll let you go."

He held his arms out beseechingly, but Emily snarled, "Stop. You don't mean that. I'm your imprint, Sam! I'm your forever!"

"Just give her to me," he pleaded.

He started toward them, but Emily jumped back, hissing and dragging Leah by her throat. "Stop! Take another step and I snap her neck." Leah began to choke. Her eyes opened blearily, and her fingers pulled weakly at Emily's arm, but Sam could see only the whites of her eyes as they rolled back in her head. In her state, she didn’t have the wherewithal to phase. Emily screeched, "It's always about her, isn't it? Even now? Do you honestly think we're out here so I can give her back? You're smarter than that, even if you’re only a mutt.”

Sam backed away, holding his hands in a placating gesture. "Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I don't know what to do. It’s instinctive when we’re around Cold Ones." Leah was starting to turn red from lack of oxygen. "Please, just let her breathe," Sam pleaded. "She's choking! Just let go of her throat! She's going to die if you don't let go!"

Emily feigned surprise. "Oh, you don't say? You know, some of us have evolved past the point of needing oxygen. It's for the weak."

"Please. Please don't do this. She doesn't deserve it! She’s done nothing to you!"

It was the wrong thing to say. Emily only tightened her grip, and her face contorted into an ugly mask. "Excuse me? This is exactly what she deserves! Who the hell does she think she is? She thinks she's so perfect, with her perfect life, and the perfect man, the perfect grades, the perfect looks, and the perfect family. What the hell did she do to earn any of it? Nothing! She gets every gift life has to offer, for nothing at all! Some of us work our whole lives, give everything we have, all for what? To have our flaws and imperfections thrown back in our faces?"

"She never did that to you," Sam protested. "She loved you like a sister, and I know you loved her too!"

"She never loved me!" Emily screeched. "She pitied me, at best. She pretended to be sympathetic, but inside, she was gloating. She kept me around to remind herself how much better she thought she was! Well, I've had it with her lording everything over me. She thought she was so perfect, well, she isn’t. She's nothing but a freak of nature. She's finally getting what's coming to her."

Sam knew that appealing to Emily's sense of sympathy or mercy was useless. Whatever shred of decency she had in her was gone, and he reprimanded himself for letting himself slip, both when he lashed out at her and when he begged. Instead, as he stared at Leah's face turning blue, he said, "Does she know it? Does she know what's happening? That you're doing this, and why?" He suspected not. If she had any chance to process what was going on, surely she would have phased and torn into Emily.

Emily gloated, "She doesn't even know what hit her. How stupid do you think I am? I wasn't going to show my hand. I'm smarter than that. I crushed that car like it was made of tinfoil, and she barely had time to register what was happening. And she thinks she's so fast? Well, I'm faster. She thinks she's so strong? Well, I'm stronger."

Sam tried to keep his voice steady. If he sounded too frightened for Leah, or too angry, it would just push Emily over the edge. And the pack couldn't be too far away now. He didn't hear them yet, but they had to be close. "And now she'll die not knowing how powerful you've become. She'll die believing she was the better woman."

Emily howled with rage, slamming Leah against the rough wall. "No! She'll die knowing that I beat her!" She held her there and slapped her face with a stony hand. Leah's head whipped to the side, but now she could breathe. Sam leapt to catch her, but Emily slammed her foot into his gut and sent him flying back into the opposite wall. Unlike the first time she deflected him, she put all her force into the blow. He was shocked at her strength. He knew Cold Ones were strong, had experienced it firsthand, but had never felt such raw force before. "She'll die knowing that I'm more beautiful than her." She made a fist and punched Leah in the jaw. "Smarter than her." Emily yanked her head back by the hair and spat in her face. "Stronger than her." She formed her hand into a claw and raked her nails down Leah's cheek, mirroring the scars she had just lost. "Better than her in every way, and with you by my side!"

As Leah fell with a desperate, semi-conscious cry, Sam phased and launched himself at Emily. He plowed into her as he saw Paul reaching the cliffs. He ignored the screams of the pack as he felt Emily's fists battering his skull. He snapped his jaws at her arms, but she was too quick. She grabbed a boulder and brought it down on his head. He reeled back, bumping into Leah. Emily flung herself at them, landing on his back. She squeezed at his ribs with brutal force and might have crushed him if Leah did not grab Emily by the leg and yank her down. The vampire landed on the vulnerable woman, but Leah recovered her senses enough to phase. Emily was already on her, yanking her head back by the ears and bashing their skulls together. Leah's head rang as Emily twisted to the side, flipping her onto her back and reaching for her soft, wounded belly. The monster would have disemboweled her with her bare hands had Sam not sank his teeth into Emily's leg. She screamed in pain as a chunk of her calf came away in his mouth, but instead of turning and fighting him, she saw Paul's silver wolf appear in the entrance to the cave.

Swiftly she made her decision. She didn't think she could fight off all three of them, let alone whichever members of the pack were on their way. She launched herself at the narrow opening, yanking Leah by the forearm as she passed. Just as Paul leapt at them, she ducked and rolled, pulling the weakened wolf over her as a shield. Paul careened off Leah and slammed into Sam, and the two male wolves tumbled farther into the cave.

Emily did not let go of Leah. She dragged her backward to the cave's mouth. With one last, furious glance, she hissed, "I loved you, Sam. I gave everything up for you. Why isn't it enough? Why do you still want her after everything I've done for you? Well, fuck you! You can't have her!"

And with that, she flew backward, pulling Leah out of the cave to fall two hundred meters into the crashing water below.

Sam and Paul raced out after them in dismay, leaping off the edge and into the waves, hoping for any sign of Leah. But Emily had dragged her into the depths, and she did not surface. They frantically dove again and again, looking for any sign of her grey fur or her black hair, but saw nothing in the swirling water. Seth joined them momentarily, screaming his sister's name as he ran straight off the edge of the cliff. But he could not find her either. The water was too dark, the underwater rocks looked too much like bodies, the waving yards of kelp blocked too much of their view.

They didn't even see Rosalie execute a silent swan dive into the foam, nor did they notice her when they surfaced for air, since she had no need of it, just like Emily. But they saw when she pushed to the surface, dragging Leah's fragile human body with her. "Emily pinned her to the ocean floor under a heavy stone."

Paul grabbed her away and made for shore. It had never seemed so far away.

Sam raced through the water beside him, pausing only to ask Rosalie, "Any sign of Emily?"

"None."

It took a frighteningly long time to find a stretch of land wide and flat enough amongst the rocky cliff to accommodate Leah's cold, boneless form.

"Do something!" Paul screamed at Rosalie as he dragged Leah halfway out of the water.

Without a word, she began to administer chest compressions to her friend. Leah's lips were purple, her skin was mottled, and the only movements of her body were due to Rosalie’s efforts. Waves lapped at her belly, which had started to close since Emily was no longer prying it open. "Put pressure on that," she instructed Paul.

Seth made it to shore and asked nervously, "She's going to be all right, isn't she? You're going to help her?"

"I'll do whatever I can," Rosalie said, not pausing in her rhythm. Tiny amounts of liquid trickled from Leah's mouth with each push.

Sam knelt at her feet, trying with futility to rub warmth back into her legs beneath the cold waves. Quil yelled down from the cave's mouth, asking about Leah. Paul was yelling up to him when Leah began to cough, sputtering up the saltwater filling her lungs.

"Oh, thank god!" Seth exclaimed, grabbing his sister's fingers.

Paul reached out for her other hand, whispering her name. And that was when he saw it: a crescent-shaped wound on her wrist. "Shit! That fucking bitch!" Emily had bitten her, a parting gift of deadly venom, and then trapped her at the bottom of the ocean for as long as possible to allow the venom to spread. She intended to guarantee Leah's death. If she did not die by drowning, surely she would die because of the venom.

Paul immediately dropped down in an attempt to suck the poison from her flesh, but after a few seconds, all he tasted was salt and blood.

"Is it working?" Sam asked.

"No! I don't know! I don't taste it!" He immediately resumed, but his mouth didn't burn the way he anticipated.

Rosalie ran her hands up and down Leah’s limbs and placed her ear to her chest. Then she pulled him back. "It's too late," she explained. "She must have been bitten several minutes ago, and the venom would have spread too far already. All you're doing is draining her blood, and she can't stand to lose any more. Listen to how fast her heart is racing."

"But that stuff is poison! What else am I supposed to do?"

Her mouth stretched into a thin, tense line. "We get her out of here, get her warm, and we do our best."

Paul shouted, "Our best what? Our best miracles? We can't survive venom!"

Sam added, "He's right. The only reason she lived after Victoria bit her is because Paul got the venom out. We have to find a way to get it out of her!"

"I'm so sorry. That's not possible. It already spread too far." She pointed at the edge of the wound. "Emily bit the radial artery and veins. The venom went straight into her circulatory system. The last time she was bitten, Victoria aimed too far back. Missed the jugular and carotid, mostly bit into muscle."

"She's right." They looked down in amazement as Leah had a coughing fit. When she could breathe again, she croaked out, "It's in my heart. I can feel it right here." She took her hand from Seth's and pressed her fist to her chest. "It burns."

"Jesus, Leah." Paul breathed.

Sam asked in disbelief, "How are you talking right now? How are you even awake after all that?"

She tried to sit up, but they pushed her back down, urging her to lie still. "I don't know. I just am. Stop shoving on me. I just got my ass handed to me by my fucking cunt of a cousin. I don't need you guys ganging up on me too."

"Leah, don't hurt yourself!" Seth urged. "Let us take care of you."

"Then get me out of the goddamned ocean, why don't you?" she snarled.

Seth whispered to Rosalie, "Is she okay? Is she going to be okay?"

Rosalie took a long look at her friend. She learned everything she needed to know from the irritated expression on Leah’s face, and chuckled, "She looks like shit, but she sure sounds like her old self, don't you think?”

 

  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks again to Babs81410.


	37. Bait

"I would handcuff you to this bed if I didn't know you would just break out of it."

Leah smirked at Paul. "Ooh, kinky."

He sat down heavily on the edge of his childhood bed. They had finally tossed the rest of the pack out of his house, citing Leah's exhaustion, but she was still awake. She claimed she only said she was tired in order to get everyone to leave. He was thankful to have her alone at last, though they couldn't indulge in the sort of fun that she alluded to, because Seth and Sam refused to go farther than the woods behind the house. Normally it would have infuriated Paul that her ex wouldn't leave them alone, but tonight he felt safer knowing they were standing watch close by. "You know that's not what I meant," he grunted unhappily. "Every time you step out of this house, a monster tries to hurt you. You're a damn magnet for the crazies. You've gotten into more trouble than the rest of us combined. Obviously, you should just stay inside."

"Apparently I'm unkillable, though. If it was possible for a vampire to kill me, I'd be dead by now. Pretty sure that means I can just do whatever the hell I want to, and there are no consequences." She grinned up at him, but he couldn't return the smile.

"That's exactly the kind of shit that gets you into trouble in the first place. You're not invincible, so stop acting like you are."

She admitted, "Maybe I was a teeny bit foolish going after Victoria up that cliff..."

"...as a human," he added, poking his finger gently into her side. "A soft, squishy, human full of blood."

"But it worked, didn't it? She's dead, and I'm fine. Plus this time wasn't my fault. I wasn't looking for trouble. I was just on my way to your graduation. Ruined one of my favorite outfits in the process, too."

He pouted. "I know. Didn't stop trouble from finding you, though. I mean, what the Hell? There are ten of us now, but you see 90% of the action, and take 100% of the hits." He wanted to joke with her, to listen to her laugh and tell him everything would be better, but he was too worried. Emily and Riley were still out there, and he knew her cousin wouldn't just walk away. "What happened… You should be dead. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "But I'm not. And I was exaggerating about being invincible, but come on. This means something." She raised her arm, showing him the smooth, unlined skin where a gaping bite mark ought to be.

He thumbed the miraculously smooth skin, peeking at her neck, where his mark remained on top of Victoria's. "You really think you're immune to vampire venom now?" He asked, skeptical of Rosalie's theory as to why Emily's bite didn't kill Leah.

She shrugged, leaning up on her elbows. "How else do you explain it?"

"Maybe she bit you without injecting any venom. It happened underwater. Maybe the water washed it away before it could really get into your system."

She denied the possibility. "No, it's inside me. I can feel it." She didn't elaborate, not wanting to worry him, but her heart pumped the poison to every inch of her body with every beat. It was there, coursing through her veins with a hot, humming burn. She knew she ought to be dead. "As much of this shit that I have in me, well, I wouldn't be here talking to you if it was going to hurt me. Who knows if it will last forever, but for now, I really think I'm immune."

He lowered himself down beside her, talking her into his arms. "Let's not test that theory, okay?"

As much as she loved being with him in the relative peace and quiet, she couldn't help but want to chase Emily down and tear her apart once and for all. "I should be out there, Paul. I should be hunting her down and taking her out before she can hurt anyone else."

"And I want to lock you in this room, but we can't always do what we want, can we?"

"You can't tell me you don't want to tear her apart."

He squeezed her more tightly, fearing she would bolt out of bed at any second. "I want to do that tomorrow. Tomorrow, do you hear me?" After a moment of thought, he added, "By myself. I will tear her apart, and you can stay here, handcuffed to the bed."

She snorted. "Fat chance. You know you'll feel better if we're together when Emily and I find each other. Plus, I was in a perfectly safe spot, just a couple miles away in my car. I won't be safer here by myself. It’s better to be with the rest of the pack."

A terrible vision appeared in his mind's eye: Leah's blood splattered across the walls of this very room. He grumbled under his breath, "I hate it when you're right."

She giggled, "You must be pretty miserable then, because I'm always right."

He sighed and yawned hugely, trying to sweep the disturbing images away and failing. Leah's continuing insistence on fighting their opponents wasn't helping. It had been an exhausting and terrifying day. And he hadn't even managed to pick up his diploma. His father hadn't gotten home yet; he was still at Billy Black's having everything explained to him. "Just be quiet now and go to sleep."

She protested, "But I'm not tired. We should just go look for her right now. We're wasting time."

Paul didn't want to have this argument again. He grabbed a spare pillow, planted it on his face, and growled into it in frustration. Jacob nearly had to issue an Alpha order to get her to rest. Paul lifted the pillow. "Go. To. Sleep. You almost died today, remember? Aren't you exhausted? I'm exhausted."

"I'm not tired at all," she lied. "I basically slept all evening long."

He rolled over so that he could properly glare at her. "You were unconscious, not taking a nap! For fuck's sake, give yourself a little time to heal, will you?"

"But I feel fine!" She lifted her shirt, baring her smooth stomach. Hours before, her skin gaped open with an ugly wound. It had already closed into a thin line. By the next day, it would be gone entirely. "I'm all healed up, see?"

"I know it looks like that, but it's not possible. It has to be some kind of trick. With the amount of venom in you, there's no way you should be healing this fast. Remember your broken bones?"

She smiled triumphantly. "Exactly! Seriously, I'm pretty sure I'm immune to vampire venom now. Surviving Victoria's bite gave my immune system the chance to figure out how to fight it off, like a vaccination or something. So who better than me to take out Emily and that other asshole?"

He pouted petulantly, dropping his head back down onto the bed. "Fine. But not until tomorrow. I'm going to sleep, and you're staying here with me, even if it means you just stare at the ceiling for the next eight hours."

She could live with that. "Deal." Within seconds, they were both asleep.

He woke a few hours later to the sensation of Leah thrashing in his arms. She was gasping and moaning in her sleep. A line furrowed her brow, and her breathing hitched. He placed his hand on her cheek and was relieved to find no fever. He gently traced the faint lines where Emily had tried to gift Leah with scars to match the ones Sam had given her. They, too, had nearly disappeared.

_The airbag deployed, smacking into Leah's face and temporarily blinding her. The seatbelt dug into her chest as it restrained her. As the airbag deflated, the seatbelt yanked her back and slammed the back of her head against her seat, the figure leapt, landing on the roof of the car._

_Leah tried to release herself from the seatbelt so she could get out of the car and phase, but the mechanism jammed. Before she could rip it free, the metal above her head began to tear, and she looked up to see a hand pulling back the roof like the lid of a tin can. She couldn't phase, restrained as she was._

_She had just enough time to realize that the thing above her used to be Emily. Then her opponent slammed a stony fist into her head three times, sending pain lancing through her skull, and causing her to slip into unconsciousness. As she faded into blackness, she felt one cold arm wrap around her throat, choking her and yanking her up. Her legs smashed against the steering column, and her skin tore against the jagged remnants of her roof. Emily roughly yanked her through the hole she had made._

"It's okay, baby. It's okay. You're safe. I'm here, and you're safe." Strong arms held her still, but the voice did not grate on her ears, and no foul scent of death filled her nostrils.

She finally recognized the familiar, loving tone. "Paul?" She panted and opened her eyes, seeing the small dresser, open closet door, and bare walls of his room. His clock read 3:06 in red digital lights.

"It's me. It's just me." His arms, not Emily's, gently wound around her waist and shoulders, cradling her close. His body was warm, not cold. His touch was tender, not hurtful. His voice was soothing, not cruel. "You're safe. You're here with me. Nothing can hurt you now."

She felt her heart pounding in her chest, and she had to force herself to take deep, slow breaths in order to calm herself. She inhaled the warm, rich scent of his skin and twisted around to bury her face in his chest. "Okay, okay." She was a little embarrassed by how tightly she clung to him, but she knew he didn’t mind. He just held her and stroked his open palm up and down her back.

"You’re okay, baby. You’re okay. Were you dreaming about what happened today?"

She nodded, the vivid images still flashing through her mind. She remembered the moments before Emily began to pummel her skull with minute detail, but after, she only had hazy sensations of lancing pain, fear, and desperate hunger for air. "The crash. It happened so fast. I couldn't phase. I was stuck in the car, and there was no room. I should have been able to protect myself..."

"It wasn't your fault," he insisted.

She shook her head angrily, accidentally bumping the crown of her head into his chin. If it caused him any discomfort, he didn’t seem to notice. "I should be able to take care of myself. Otherwise, what's the point of shifting?"

He thought of all the times that she had put herself on the line. Too often she had come too close to death. He was joking when he threatened to cuff her to the bed, but he wished he had a way to keep her safe. Every one of her wounds scarred him, and he wished he could somehow carry the burden of her pain. He would trade just about anything to guarantee her safety. She, however, was inclined to do the opposite. Risking herself for the benefit of others was simply who she was. She would absorb any blow, suffer any injury, make any sacrifice on behalf of a fellow human being, no matter whether they were worthy or not. It terrified him, but he loved her for it. "The point is to keep people safe, and that's exactly what you do. Don't get me wrong. I think you were insane to go climbing that cliff after Victoria, but even I'll admit that if you hadn't done it, she'd still be out there murdering people. And as stupid as it was, it's not like you were by yourself. You pulled her down to the rest of us. You had backup, so it wasn't a completely idiotic move. And yeah, I'm still kind of pissed that you jumped in front of that dumb cunt Bella, seeing as she absolutely deserved to get her damn throat torn out." She opened her mouth to defend herself, but before she could say anything, he told her, "But I know you didn't do it for her. You did it for Jake, and for her dad, and for the people she'd have killed if she turned. So I get it."

"Any news about the leech lover? She still moping about the Cullens?"

"I guess she came around to Jake's, but she didn’t apologize or anything. Seemed like she was waiting for an apology out of him. He didn’t give it to her."

"Good." She was proud of her young Alpha. He was truly coming into his own. "He deserves better than that sniveling, selfish brat. I'm glad he realizes it. He's a catch, and I can't believe he hasn't gotten snatched up yet."

A primal surge of possessiveness rose in his chest. He didn't have any problems with Jacob, particularly since he had finally started to grow a backbone about Bella Swan. But the other wolf outranked him, and he knew that if the Alpha chose to do so, according to pack hierarchy, he could make a claim to the only female. "Should I be worried?"

It didn't even occur to her that he was talking about Jacob. She settled back into his embrace and said, “I know what I did was dumb, and if Seth ever did what I did, I’d kick his ass. But if I had to go back and do it all again, I wouldn’t change anything.”

“Anything?” he answered dryly.

After a pause, she clarified, “Okay, I’d have walked to graduation, maybe with one or two of our brothers, and ripped Emily to shreds when she came looking for me. I couldn’t smell her in the car with the windows rolled up…”

“I would have happily skipped my graduation to tear that bitch apart.”

She sighed quietly. “I’m really sorry I messed it up. I really wanted to be there. I wanted to watch you get your diploma.”

“No worries. It’s not like they’re keeping me from graduating because of the ceremony. It’s no big deal.”

“Sure it is…” she protested.

He cut her off. “Seriously. The ceremony’s for the parents. I just want to be done with high school, and I am.”

“How’s your dad handling everything?” she asked, listening for any sign that Allen had returned to the house.

Paul just shrugged. “Who knows. Either he’s still at Billy’s, or he freaked out after they talked to him, and he went back to his girlfriend’s house.”

She was quiet long enough that he thought she might be asleep, until very quietly, she whispered, "I'm sorry I scared you."

"Don't be sorry. Just stop scaring me like that."

Unfortunately, it wasn't up to her, just like it wasn't up to him. As long as Emily was still out there, she wasn't safe.

The next morning, she wanted to go hunting as early as possible, to take Emily out before she could hurt anyone else. Paul disagreed. He thought it was far too soon. Although Leah looked healthy on the outside, he knew there was still venom running through her veins, and he wanted her to heal fully before engaging in another battle. Better yet, he wanted her to stay out of the way while the others took care of the threat. He knew she would refuse, of course, as they had discussed the night before, but it didn't change his feelings on the subject.

Thankfully, when the pack met the next morning, Jacob had a compromise. He told Leah that she would be the bait.

It was Seth, not Paul, who protested. The day before had been particularly hard on him. Watching what happened to his sister was terrifying. Between the crash, the beatings, the strangling, the drowning, and the bite, she ought to have died half a dozen times over. Even if she thought she would survive another assault, he didn't think he could. Jacob pointed out that Emily wasn’t going to leave her alone, no matter what they did, and their best bet was to trap her on their own terms. Moreover, he knew Leah wasn’t ready to hunt, though she insisted otherwise. She was liable to do something completely stupid and reckless just to prove that she could. This way she would rest and heal for a little longer. "We only have two choices: go look for her, or wait for her to come to us. Jared and Quil already searched up and down the coast, and Embry and I looked everywhere we know of. We followed anything that even hinted at one of their trails. Nothing. We have no idea where they are. For all we know, she could still be sitting on the bottom of the ocean. It's not a matter of going farther or looking harder. She knows our limitations, knows what we can and can't do. And she's covered her tracks. The only thing we’d accomplish by running around out there is to exhaust ourselves, and either leave the entire reservation unprotected, or split up the pack. She'd take advantage of that somehow. I wouldn't put it past her to go after the pups, since they're totally inexperienced and not even fully grown.”

“We don’t know if she’ll ever come back,” Jared pointed out.

Jacob disagreed. “I don’t think so. Emily hates Leah. She has it out for her. She isn't just going to walk away. She'll be back to hurt her, one way or another, and I say we make sure we're ready when that happens."

It was Sam, not Paul, who immediately began to argue. "You can't possibly be suggesting what I think you're suggesting, Jake. She's been through too much. She’s…”

"I'll do it," Leah interrupted. "Whatever it is, I'll do it."

The argument continued, back and forth, until Jacob reminded them, “We really don’t have a choice. They’re moving to Pullman in, what, a month or two? They’ll be all by themselves. You think Emily’s going to forget about her between now and then? She isn't. She's just going to wait until Leah’s not surrounded by the rest of the pack for protection, and then she'll go after her. Is that what you want?”

The only person who answered was Leah. “I don’t know why we’re still arguing about this. It’s settled. I already agreed. It’s a done deal…”

Paul sighed heavily, seeing no alternative. “What exactly did you have in mind, Jake?”

Jacob turned back to Leah and Seth. "Do you guys have any idea if she's been in contact with the rest of her family? Do they know that something’s happened to her?"

Seth cleared his throat, wiping the angry tone from his voice. "They haven’t seen her, obviously. But they don't think she's dead or anything. We'd have heard about it."

Leah suggested, "I'll bet she's still talking on the phone with her mom and sister.”

Sam agreed. "She must be. If she hadn't checked in with them in a while, they'd be calling the cabin, and I haven't heard from either of them since she left."

Jacob was satisfied. "Then let's use them to send a message. Have your mom tell her mom that you're going camping with Paul. If she thinks you're off on your own, she won't be able to resist coming after you. Except, it won't just be the two of you. We’ll all be there waiting for her."

Embry piped up. "You really think she'll fall for that? It seems kind of obvious. "

Jared added, "And she's not stupid. She may be out of her mind, but she's not an idiot. It's clearly a trap."

"You want to make sure she shows up?" Sam offered. "Spread the rumor that the two of them are breaking up, and we're getting back together, and that she's going camping with me. Like a romantic getaway to reconnect."

Paul stood up, ready to deck Sam. "Oh, give it up! You are so damn transparent. Get it through your thick skull. She's done with you."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Jackass, we’re all going to be there anyway. It's a trap, remember? You all heard Emily. She's insanely jealous of Leah, and it sure as hell isn't because you guys got together. She can't stand that I care about Leah even after I imprinted. If she thinks we’re back together, it will drive her crazy. You do want a guarantee that she'll actually show, right? Otherwise this is all just a big waste of time."

Embry was still skeptical. "I don't know. She might see through it."

“Why?” Sam asked. “Maybe before yesterday, when she still seemed to think I was imprinted on her. But now she knows we’re over, and that I’m willing to kill her to keep Leah safe. She’s got to be furious at both of us. She’ll want to finish me off as badly as she wants to kill Leah.”

Leah agreed with Sam. "Even if she thinks we can’t have gotten back together, she won't be able to resist at least looking to see for herself."

"And we can make it look real,” Sam added. “We'll head off together, and you guys will be following at a safe distance."

Jacob added, "We can do better than that. I don't like the idea of just the two of you out there, even if we are right behind you. A couple of us can go ahead to the campsite, and a couple of us can maybe flank you as you drive. Leah was vulnerable in the car, not being able to phase. We’ll make sure she doesn't catch you on the road."

Paul didn't like any of it. It seemed like a terrible idea. "This is just a stupid ploy for you to get her alone, and we both know it," he accused. Then he turned back to Jacob. "It's bad enough dangling Leah out there for Emily to find. She doesn't want to just fuck her up, she wants to murder her. And you want to make this jealous, abusive asshole her bodyguard?" He pointed at Sam. "It’s like you’re trying to get her killed."

Quil pointed out, "He already faced Emily, so it's not like we have to wonder whose side he's on. He'll keep her safe, and we'll all be really close by anyway."

"Safe?" Paul snapped. "Emily bit her! She almost drowned! And he didn't do a damn thing about it except talk to Emily." He pointed accusingly at Sam. "You had her there, right in front of you, and you didn't do anything! You should have taken her out when you had the chance. Then we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Sam stood to defend himself. "You don't know what you’re talking about! She was going to snap Leah's neck! Of course I wanted to rip her head off! I didn't make a move because I knew she would kill Leah before I got to her. So it's a damn good thing that I was there and you weren't, because if it had been you, you would never have been able to hold your temper. You’d have done something stupid, and Leah wouldn't be sitting here right now!"

The two angry men were nearly toe-to-toe, yelling in each other’s faces. Jacob stepped between them and pushed them apart. "Calm down, both of you. Paul, I know why you're worried, but we are all here for the same thing: to take Emily out before she can hurt Leah or anybody else. This is the best way to do it, unless you have a better idea." When Paul said nothing, Jacob turned to Sam. “Stop antagonizing him. You're making things worse.”

After hashing out a few more details, the meeting broke up.

Over the next month, they carefully watched their borders and waited. Leah waited impatiently for the plan to come to fruition. She wanted to act immediately, but Emily wouldn’t believe she dumped Paul, reconnected with Sam, and planned a camping trip within a span of a few days. She forced herself to be patient.

Rachel went back to Pullman for her internship, though she came home on weekends to spend time with her brother, father, Leah, and Paul. The better he knew her, the more Paul liked her. She was funny, sarcastic, and smart, and quite a bit like Leah. Their imprint remained intact, but it didn’t encroach on his relationship with Leah at all. No matter how friendly they became, Rachel’s loyalty to Leah trumped any feelings she might have developed for him, and her desire to live her life freely and by her own terms kept her from thinking of their imprint in romantic terms. If anything, she was offended by the idea of being tied to him, especially after she learned what Emily done in the name of her imprint.

Rachel was surprised at the extent of Emily’s betrayals, but she had known Emily for years and recognized her jealousy for what it was. Bella, on the other hand, was absolutely shocked. After avoiding her for weeks, Jacob finally went to see her at Charlie’s insistence. She was quite fond of Emily and thought her relationship with Sam was a real life fairytale. In many ways, she felt that Emily's story paralleled the one she wanted for herself. She had never particularly liked Leah, finding her too brusque and intimidating. Since Emily and Sam were supposedly soulmates, Leah had no justification in her anger toward either of them. When Jacob told her that Emily asked to be turned, she sympathized. It wasn't fair that the Protectors received superhuman strength, rapid healing, immortality and eternal youth, while the imprints received nothing. Jacob could no longer stand her warped point of view. He snapped, reminding her that the obligation to hunt monsters was no gift, and she wouldn't say so if she had seen the terrible wounds inflicted on Leah. Their abilities did not serve the purpose of vanity or power; the Protectors put their lives on the line. Moreover, being chained to an imprint was a curse. He was deeply insulted that she claimed the imprints received nothing. Fate turned the wolves into their slaves. Finally, he reminded her that there was a price for the Cold Ones’ immortality: life. But rather than pay with their own lives, they stole the lives of others. He described in vivid detail the state of the body he had found. Based on the bites on his body, his obviously broken bones, and the state of agony that froze on his face, he reconstructed the excruciating last minutes of the dying man. Emily had done that. And the fact that Bella had ever considered risking such a fate absolutely disgusted him. He left then, without any intention to go back.

Bella called him several times over the next few days, but he was too busy and too uninterested to answer. Once upon a time, he had wanted to save her. He had imagined himself as her knight in shining armor, rescuing her from the clutches of the seductive but villainous Edward. He even succeeded, albeit against her will. But now that the fantasy was gone, now that he understood who Bella actually was, and not who he had imagined her to be, he was no longer so enamored. Quite the opposite, in fact. So when she knocked on his door and said that she finally understood what it was that he had saved her from, he was surprised. He invited her in and asked why she had such a drastic change of heart. She explained that Charlie had shown her crime scene photos of the hiker that Edward had murdered. Reality was sobering. When she contritely apologized for the way she had treated him, Jacob was pleased, and he thought their friendship could be repaired. But when she asked him to hold her and he obligingly wrapped her in one of his signature bear hugs, he was surprised by his own reaction. The fluttering that used to erupt in his stomach when she looked at him was nowhere to be found, and his pulse didn’t race when she smiled tentatively up at him. When she told him that she was able to envision a future without Edward, when she said that happiness had been right in front of her the entire time, and she had been blind not to see it, he knew she was talking about him. To his surprise, his heart sank instead of soaring as he expected. Before she could say anything more, he told her he was glad she could move on with her life. She deserved better than Edward, and he knew she would find what she was looking for someday. She stiffened and pulled away. She had obviously expected him to sweep her off her feet and declare his devotion, though she didn't say so out loud. Instead, he reminded her that he would always be her friend, and he would always be there for her. She left with a confused furrow on her brow.

Three days later, Bella announced that she was leaving for Florida, and he was truly happy for her. He did not mourn the loss of her presence. After all, he still had her friendship, which was still valuable to him despite everything that had happened. And he had saved her life, which was all he had ever really wanted.

While Jacob was content to see her go, Rosalie was practically giddy. She believed that life was a gift, and those who could not recognize it were blind and stupid. The same reasoning made her deeply angry at Emily. Although the remnants of her family awaited her in Alaska, she refused to leave Washington until Emily and Riley were dead. She offered to share patrol, reminding Jacob that she didn't need to sleep. She took over watch of the eastern border at night, though she was careful to stay on the other side of the old treaty line. Not all the wolves were comfortable around her, and the pups in particular had difficulty controlling the urge to phase when she was near, but they were all grateful for her help. During the day, she spent her time with Leah, appointing herself as a bodyguard. The two girls got along famously, alternating between bickering amicably and giggling like schoolgirls.

Leah enjoyed her company, and that of Rachel, Jacob, Seth, and the new pups. But she was eager to begin her new life with Paul. Her cousin’s threat hung over her like a black cloud. Though she wouldn't admit it out loud, she was afraid, because once again, she had something to lose. Sam’s recollection of Emily didn't reassure her in the least. Emily was strong, stronger than Victoria had been, stronger than Edward. Rosalie explained that newborn vampires were at the peak of their strength, which only worried her more. And though she didn't doubt the pack’s ability to destroy her when the time came, she feared that someone would get hurt, or even die. Her own brushes with death were frightening enough, but the thought of losing someone that she cared about, Seth, Jacob, Paul, or even Sam, was more terrifying than anything. She wished she could spare them the risk, and if she had any realistic way of finding Emily by herself, she probably would have done so. Instead she waited impatiently until the day finally came.

She should have known it would not go according to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Babs81410. The next chapter will go up later today. No more cliffhangers!


	38. Hubris

Sue had laid out the trap as carefully as she could. According to her mother, Emily knew of the supposed reconciliation between Leah and Sam. She had mentioned their camping trip as well. So on a drizzly Saturday morning in July, Leah kissed Paul for a temporary goodbye. She looked calm, too calm, while he was on the verge of a panic attack. It was bad enough that they were luring Emily toward Leah. Making Sam her guard seemed just as foolish.

He kissed her, deeply and long, knowing full well that Sam was staring at them from his truck. But by the time she finally needed to pull away to breathe, both of them had forgotten they had an audience.

Leah felt a little guilty when she climbed into Sam's passenger seat and saw the tense set of his jaw. Although she had been perfectly clear with him about her relationship with Paul, she realized that his feelings for her would not disappear overnight. She remembered just how painful it was to witness his displays of affection with Emily, and she didn't want to hurt him. As they pulled away from the reservation, heading east toward the Olympic National Park, she turned to him. "Thank you for doing this. You didn't have to."

For some reason, her words bothered him. Carefully, he said, "No, you shouldn't thank me. It's my fault we're in this mess."

At one point, she would have agreed with him. But now that she had moved beyond her pain and anger, she knew that the blame rested squarely on Emily's shoulders. "That's not true. Emily's a big girl. She made her own decisions."

"But I went along with it. It was like she said. She said jump, I didn't even ask how high, I just jumped. No matter how wrong, no matter how awful, I did whatever she wanted. I can't believe I turned into that. I did so many horrible... I just regret so much."

She still felt strange comforting him, but she knew what he needed to hear. "It wasn't your fault. You weren't in your right mind."

"I don't even know who I was, Lee Lee. I was a stranger that I hate. I want to erase all of it."

If she had the power, would she erase everything? Would she turn back time if she could? Their betrayal had nearly destroyed her, but she emerged from it a stronger person, and she didn’t believe in regret. "I know. But there's nothing we can do to change the past. We can only go forward. And the fact is, you didn't have to help me when she came after me, and you don't have to be here now, so thank you." She picked up her hand, meaning to place it on his knee and a comforting gesture, but set it down again in her lap. She didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

He saw the movement out of the corner of his eye, and it hurt immensely that she wouldn't touch him. "Lee Lee, you have to know that I would do absolutely anything for you. Anything." Did that included letting her go? Now wasn't the right time to ask. When she said nothing, he whispered, "I've missed you so much."

She knew exactly how he felt. His loss left a void that, at first, she had no idea how to fill. He had been such a big part of her life for so long, and she had loved him completely. Losing him was the worst experience of her life until Harry died. After the imprint broke, and he had such a drastic change of heart, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to take him back. Such questions hung in the air between them. Could they pick up where they left off? Might they build something new altogether? Were it not for Paul, she suspected she might have tried.

But he could never return to the person he once was, not after everything that passed between them, not unless he found a way to turn back time and erase everything. Still, she knew what he had done for her when Emily returned. Any lingering doubts she had about his loyalty vanished in those moments. He hoped that his actions would change her feelings toward him, that she would return to his open arms when he proved that she was more important to him then Emily. Unfortunately for him, her feelings for Paul were too strong. And there was no way to regain the carefree innocence that had once characterized their love. Leah felt bad for him, because he had made it clear that he would do anything in his power to get her back. But her heart was no longer hers to give.

She could, however, give him something else. Her trust. “It means a lot to me that you’re here now,” Leah said gently. “We’ll end this together.”

“Together,” he agreed.

The rest of the drive was amicable, if awkward. Leah couldn’t see any of her brothers through the trees, but she knew that Paul and Seth were flanking them. Jacob had taken Embry and Collin to the National Park, where they surrounded the campsite with a wide berth, and Quil, Brady, and Jared took up the rear. Rosalie kept watch at the eastern border of the reservation.

An hour and a half later, they arrived at their destination. They chose an unmarked campsite, not wanting to risk the lives of any innocent campers or hikers. The first thing they did was to check in with the rest of the pack. No one had found any signs of Emily or Riley, so after a quick sweep of the remote campground, they set up their tent.

Hours passed with no sign of Emily, and Leah found herself reminiscing out loud. It was hard not to, especially when Sam prodded her to remember events from their shared past. Now she could remember them with a detached fondness. The memories were much fresher and more painful for him, because he feared he had lost the chance to make new ones with her. She steered the conversation to easier topics. When the moon rose, instead of zipping their sleeping bags together and climbing in, he took first watch, and she lay alone in the tent listening to the peaceful sounds of the night.

When the howl finally came, Leah had just fallen asleep. She bolted upright and flung herself out of the tent, but she saw only Sam pacing back and forth at the edge of the trees. She scented the air for any signs of a Cold One and stripped out of her clothes, but there was nothing.

_What is it?_

In her mind’s eye, she saw one wolf racing through the woods, but everyone else was standing still. Emily and Riley were nowhere to be seen. But panic flashed through the pack mind. Voices overlapped each other in a cacophony until Jacob demanded, _Stop! I can’t hear him over all the noise. Paul, tell us what’s going on!_

They could feel his confusion. _I don’t know! I don’t know, but we have to get back! Something’s wrong!_

Jacob asked, _What are you talking about? How do you know?_

_I can feel it!_ Paul insisted. _I’m absolutely sure. Something bad is happening to Rachel right now!_

_What? Don’t just tell me my sister’s in trouble. Tell me what you mean!_

Paul snapped, _Don’t you think I’d tell you if I knew? I can feel it, okay? She’s scared out of her mind, and we have to help her!_

Leah didn’t wait for Jacob’s instruction. She trusted Paul implicitly, and he said that her best friend was in danger. She started to run. _Where is she? Is she home for the weekend?_

_She’s supposed to be,_ Jacob answered. _Brady, phase out for a second. Call Rosalie and have her check my house. She’s the only one anywhere near there._

Rosalie agreed to look, but minutes passed, and she didn’t call them back. A heavy sense of dread filled Leah’s stomach, but it only fueled her speed. She quickly caught up with the wolves farthest to the west, and then she overtook them, passing Brady, then Jared, then Quil. Seth urged her to wait for the rest of the pack, but she wouldn’t listen. Only an Alpha order could hold her back, and as concerned as he was for Leah’s safety, Jacob was more worried about his sister. He pushed himself as hard as he could to keep up with Leah, but even he was unable. Soon Leah was far ahead of everyone else, with Jacob and Sam behind her.

Though he was not naturally one of the fastest runners, Paul kept up with them. His imprint pulled him toward Rachel at his very top speed. Looking into his mind was frightening. He saw only black, and he felt only fear. They asked where he was going, but he couldn’t explain. It was only when he started to veer instinctively south that Leah realized she needed to slow down. She had assumed Rachel was on the reservation, but Paul had shifted course. Getting so far ahead of him was no use, because she had no idea where to go. The entire pack turned to follow him.

Rosalie finally called, forcing Brady to phase out to speak with her. A minute later, he reported that she had found two vampire scents at Jacob’s cabin, but by the time she got there, the place was empty. Even Billy wasn’t home. She tried to track them, but the trail ended abruptly, and she had no idea where they were.

It was deep in the southwestern quadrant of the forest that Jacob first caught the scent of death on the air. Along with Paul, Leah, and Sam, he had pulled away from the slower members of the pack, who were several minutes behind them. Now they didn’t need Paul’s sixth sense to guide them. They followed the scent to where it was strongest, and a dilapidated cabin appeared before them. It was well over one hundred years old, and was so small that it could only contain one room. There were no windows to reveal what was going on inside, but they knew they had found Rachel and Billy. Emily's voice reverberated through the walls as she berated the chief. Beneath the sound, they could faintly hear two sets of rapid heartbeats.

The four wolves carefully surround the building. Paul wanted to break the door down, but Jacob was afraid that Emily would kill his father or sister before they could reach her. Surely she would hear them coming. They were actually shocked that she hadn't noticed the sounds of their approach yet, but she was too occupied with her tirade. She was gloating about her transformation, her newfound power, and the fact that she had outsmarted them all.

Leah noticed the sorry state of the roof as she took her place around the rear of the small structure, and she acted quickly. She phased into her human body before anyone realized what she was doing, and she silently scaled the nearest tree. Paul spotted her from the ground below and glared at her. She knew he didn't want her to remain in her vulnerable form, but she ignored him and slid out onto a strong branch. Soon she was rewarded with a glimpse into the cabin. In one corner, the roof had caved in, and a small opening had formed. Through it she could see the back of someone’s head. He had short brown hair and a fit build. This must be Riley. Rachel knelt on the floor at his feet, his hands pinning down her shoulders.

She backed up to the trunk where the branch was widest, and she phased.

Paul demanded, _What the fuck are you doing? You promised me you'd be careful!_

_I am being careful! And I saw Rachel._

She showed them what she had seen, and she and Jacob had the same thought simultaneously. There was no time to waste. They had to take advantage of Emily's distraction before she realized what was going on. Everyone pictured the plan unfolding in the pack mind, and without further instruction, they simultaneously leapt.

Leah flung herself at the roof at the same moment that Paul and Sam launched themselves at opposite walls of the rickety structure. The rusty hinges of the door in the north wall snapped under Jacob's shoulder. They landed in the room.

Jacob aimed straight for Riley as Leah crashed through the ceiling. Paul threw himself over a screaming Rachel as Jacob barreled into the unprepared vampire. They rolled through the hole Paul made in the east wall, landing outside. Leah tried to grab Billy as Sam slammed into Emily, but Emily had the older man firmly in her grasp and would not let him go. Sam snapped his jaws at the arm wrapped around Billy's neck, but before he could rip it away, the remnants of the splintered roof came raining down, and the west wall caved in. A heavy support beam struck Sam in the head. It wasn't enough to significantly injure him, but it freed Emily's arm, allowing her to pull away. Leah moved just in time to protect Billy from the collapsing wood, placing her body in between him and the debris. Emily dashed through the open door, dragging Billy with her.

Next to them, Paul held still as the old cabin fell apart. He shielded Rachel beneath him, watching Jacob attack Riley. The russet wolf snarled as he shoved the vampire to the ground. Riley kicked Jacob squarely in the abdomen, pushing him off, but Jacob managed to slash claw marks into Riley's chest as he fell back. Riley and Jacob righted themselves as Sam and Leah shook free of the splintered wood that had fallen all around them. They took off after Emily.

She hadn't gotten far, and she didn't even try to outrun them with her hostage weighing her down. She immediately turned to face them, holding Billy in front of her like a shield, just as she had done with Leah. "Stop right there, unless you want to watch him die right now!"

Sam and Leah froze in place, snarling at her.

Emily suddenly realized who stood before her. She stared at Leah incredulously, shaking her head. "Leah? I heard you were still alive, and at first, I didn't believe it. How do you fucking do it? Why won't you just die?"

Leah glanced over at Jacob. He dove at Riley's legs, trying to knock him off balance, but the vampire landed on his back and grabbed him around the neck. Paul had to leave Rachel in order to leap at Riley, shoving him aside before he could strangle Jacob. Emily looked back at Sam, who stepped to the side, trying to flank her. She reacted by grabbing his skull, yanking it to the side, and baring her fangs against his neck. "One more step and I rip him open with my teeth! Go ahead, do it! Just give me the excuse!" Sam froze in place.

Billy hissed in pain, but yelled, "Don't give in to her! Don't do anything she says. She's a liar and a traitor!"

Several feet away, Jacob and Paul were getting the better of Riley. The vampire managed to roll away from Paul without losing any limbs, but Jacob jumped over Paul, tearing another gash in Riley's torso and up his neck.

Emily hissed, "Don't test me, old man! I don't bluff!" And with a flick of her wrist, she snapped the bones in his forearm. He screamed in pain.

Leah acted without thinking. She had to get Billy away from Emily. Before anyone could stop her, she transformed into her human body, hearing Paul call out to her for a moment before all the voices in her mind went quiet. She put her hands in the air. "Let him go, Emily! It's me you're angry with, not him!"

Emily spat, "Of course I'm angry with him! He threw me out! He tossed me away like trash!"

"You betrayed us! You tried to get his son killed! What did you expect? You're lucky he didn't have you arrested!"

She twisted Billy's arm behind his back, causing pain to shoot through his shoulder. "You should have done it when you had the chance!"

Billy ignored Emily’s outburst and told her, "And you should run while you still have a chance. You're going to die here, permanently this time, if you don't run."

She bent down to growl in his ear, "Not without taking you, and everyone you love, with me."

Billy pointed across the clearing. "Are you sure about that?" She turned just in time to see Paul pin Riley's legs to the ground with his rear paws. He tore off his left arm with a single, fierce bite as Riley screamed.

"Let him go!" Riley yelled to Emily, thrashing desperately as Jacob stalked toward him. He knew he was about to die. "Do what they say!"

Leah offered, "Let Billy go, and Riley walks! You both just walk away."

Emily laughed while Riley struggled helplessly below Paul. "We all know that will never happen. It wouldn't matter if I gave him back gift wrapped with a bow. You're not just letting us leave. Do you really think I'm so stupid?"

"Just do it!" Riley screamed as Jacob's jaws closed around his head. "Do it!"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Just get it over with, Jake. Put him out of his misery."

Jacob eagerly obliged, crushing Riley's skull into bitter fragments. Paul tore the body to bits while Jacob slowly approached Emily. "Not one step closer!" She stabilized Billy’s head again, ready to snap his neck. "Not unless you want your father to die!"

From a safe distance behind Paul, Rachel begged, "Please, let him go!"

"What are you doing, Emily?" Leah truly didn't understand. She must know there was no escape. They could hear the approach of the rest of the pack through the trees.

Emily smirked. "Maybe I'm offering to do Billy here a favor. Did you ever think about that?"

"What are you talking about?" Leah asked, trying to stall until everyone else arrived. Then Emily would be completely surrounded.

"Maybe I'm offering to give him the same gift I was given. Look at him. He’s a pathetic excuse for a man. Can’t even hold himself up.” She stopped supporting him for just one second, and he began to slip to the ground, his legs long paralyzed. Emily yanked him up by his wrist alone, dislocating his shoulder with a sharp snap. “He’s soft. Weak. Pitiful. But he doesn’t have to be."

The chief's eyes widened as he realized what she was threatening. "I'd rather die than become a monster like you."

"Oh, don't worry," she purred. "That can be arranged."

Leah saw from the insane glint in her eye that Emily was ready to do it. She knew she had no chance of escape. All she wanted to do was hurt them as much as possible before she died. Leah shifted her hands so that they rested on top of her head. "Don't! You don't care what happens to him one way or another, and we both know it. It's not him you really want to kill, it's me." She dropped to her knees in a posture of surrender.

Billy immediately realized that she was preparing to sacrifice herself again. "Don't do this, Leah! Get up!" Behind her, Paul barked loudly in protest.

She ignored them both. "Let him go, and take me as your hostage."

"You're just going to phase the moment I let him go! I'm not an idiot!" Emily snapped.

"It won't matter if I do," Leah pointed out. "I’ll turn around. That way I can’t get at you. You keep Billy until you've got me in the same position you've got him now, just like you did to me before. Even if I phase, you'll be able to break my neck. The pack will get out of your way, and you and I will leave."

Emily didn't believe her for a second. "You and I both know that will never happen! They're not letting me drag you away. I can see it in Sam's eyes. He's never letting you go. Neither will Paul. Fuck! Why? What’s so fucking special about you? I can’t believe this. You ruin everything! Sam is supposed to be mine, and you’re supposed to be dead! I killed you! This is impossible!”

Leah refused to get in an argument with her. She focused on trying to free Billy. “So finish the job! Take me instead of taking Billy. I’m the one you really want to hurt!”

“I’m not falling for your tricks, so shut your mouth!” Emily insisted. “No, I think I'll take my chances and see how many of you I can take down with me, and I’ll start with him!"

Leah couldn’t let it happen. "Jacob will order it! Jacob will order them to all stay away! You have his father, Emily. He will order everyone away to save his father! Isn’t that why you took him and Rachel? To get back at Jacob? To get back at me?"

“You were the ones stupid enough to leave them unprotected,” Emily declared. “So everything that happens is on you!”

Leah insisted, “But Billy’s not the one you’re really mad at. It’s me you want, not him! And if you kill him, you’ll be dead before you can touch me again. So put him down, and take me!”

"Don't listen to either of them!" Billy yelled to his son. "No matter what you do, don't let her escape!"

But Jacob couldn't do it. He couldn't watch his father die, not now, not at Emily’s hand. He hated to risk Leah, but she stood a chance against Emily. His father did not. With a reluctant growl, he slowly crouched down, tucking his tail between his legs.

Leah recognized the gesture immediately. She pointed at him. "See! He'll do it! He'll give the order!"

"How the hell do I know what he's saying?" Emily countered. "You're just stalling. He's probably telling the entire pack exactly how to kill me."

"No, he's not,” Leah insisted, praying this would work. “Jacob, phase out and tell her! Give the order out loud so she can hear you!"

Jacob stared at her, wishing that their telepathic connection had not been broken. He knew what to do, but he had no way to tell Leah. He nodded once, ignoring the protests of his brothers in his brain, and then he began to back away, ducking behind a nearby bush to phase and put on his shorts. Seconds later, he emerged with his hands in the air.

"Stop right there!" Emily yelled, peering around her to see the rest of the pack lining up behind her. "None of you move! If anybody so much as breathes the wrong way, I’m snapping his neck! I want to hear it, Jacob. I want to hear you give the order! Make them back off!"

Jacob cautiously agreed, ignoring Paul, who had risen up, fur bristling, teeth bared, and was snarling threateningly at Jacob. "Okay. You let my dad go, and you take Leah." In a distinct and deeper tone, one that Emily recognized well, he turned to Paul and told him, "No. You aren't to hurt Emily." He glanced around. "None of you are allowed to hurt Emily." To Leah, he ordered, "Don't phase, and don't fight her. Let her take you. Everybody else, clear a path!" Leah knew this was no trick. She felt the power of the Alpha order in her bones, and she had to obey.

Seth growled at Jacob, but he had no choice. Paul's eyes flashed with fury, and he began to bark desperately. But Jacob would not change his mind. The newly arrived wolves crossed over to line up behind Jacob, leaving a wide space for Emily to make her escape.

Emily stared at them one by one, letting seconds tick slowly by, while she tried to figure out if this was a trick. For a moment, she considered dropping Billy and fleeing without Leah. She was no longer surrounded, and she had a real chance to get away. But then her eyes settled on Sam. His eyes were fixated on Leah, who kneeled submissively in the dirt. Emily could hardly believe it. She had given him everything. She had given up her human life so they could be together for eternity, yet he treated her like she was a monster. Fate dictated that he love her forever, but somehow, he loved Leah instead. Jealous bile rose in Emily's throat as she watched them. Even now, she couldn't tear his attention away from his precious Leah.

Emily made her decision. She wasn't convinced of Jacob's honesty, but her hatred got the better of her. She wanted to kill Leah even more than she wanted to punish Billy, even more than she wanted to survive, and this might be the only chance she ever got. "Tell them they can't take a single step until I'm at least five miles away!"

Jacob blanched visibly, but he carefully repeated her, word for word. She smiled slowly, and then she dumped Billy unceremoniously on the ground and started toward Leah.

But before she could finish a single step, Sam leapt with an outraged roar, aiming for Emily's head. She twisted just quickly enough to absorb his blow into her shoulder, but not a second later, Jacob sprinted forward, phasing mid-stride. He plowed into her legs, and she toppled over between the two wolves.

Even without proper balance, though, she had the strength of a newborn. Human blood still flowed in her veins, left over from her own transformation, and she had murdered a vagrant only one day before. She managed to get her arm around one of Jacob's legs, and she snapped it as she fell. She kicked at him as soon as she hit the ground, pushing his jaw just out of reach of her limbs, and she flipped away.

But Sam was right behind her. He reared up and slashed at her face with his deadly claws, and she went reeling back. Jacob, still on the ground, used his hind legs to propel her back toward Sam, who threw her to the ground at Leah's motionless feet. Both wolves set upon her before she could push herself up and kill the frozen Leah. Jacob bit off her left foot moments before Sam tore her right arm away from her shoulder. But with her remaining arm, Emily grabbed Leah's ankle, and she bit down. She didn't bother to drink any blood. She had one purpose, and one purpose only: to inject as much venom as she could.

Only a moment later, Jacob crushed her left forearm in his mouth, and Sam took her right leg. But she wouldn't release Leah form her deadly bite until she felt Jacob's teeth in the back of her skull. She screamed as he forcefully yanked her back and threw her face-first into the wet soil.

Emily screamed curses at the pack, at Leah, at the Blacks, but the sounds were muffled by mud in her mouth, and she was blinded by the dirt in her eyes. She heard frantic scrambling. Using his human voice, Jacob released the pack from his orders. Then she felt a hand grab her hair and yank her unceremoniously off the ground, but she still couldn't see. There was still too much dirt in her eyes, and she had no way to brush it out. But she recognized Sam's voice, felt his hot breath in her face as he held her limbless body swinging in the air in front of him. "Was it worth it, Emily? Was it worth it, you worthless piece of trash? Fuck. This is the real you, isn’t it? You were always a vampire, even when you were human, leeching everything good around you, and destroying it all. You disgust me, you monstrous bitch."

She roughly spat mud in his face and blinked the dirt out of her eyes, and she saw his face red with anger and disgust. "It was worth it, because I’ve won. I may die, but so will she. My venom is headed straight for her heart. I’m happy to die, as long as she dies along with me." Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Paul gathering Leah into his arms. "And as long as you all know you failed her, your precious, perfect Leah. She thinks she can have everything? Have it all? Not anymore. It’s over. She’s as good as dead."

She felt herself moving backward, swinging back and forth as Sam walked. A disgusting, pungent scent filled her nose, and she heard a sizzling, crackling sound behind her. Sam grinned at her when he stopped walking, and then she realized why. She felt heat behind her, and a tendril of black smoke blew past her face. "You cunt, she's not going anywhere with you. Leah's going to live a long, long time." Sam taunted her as the heat rose to lick at her legless torso. Riley's remains burned on the ground right behind her.

"She won't," Emily insisted. "I don't care if Paul tries to suck the venom from her. I pumped her full of it. I nearly drained myself to guarantee it."

But from behind Sam, Leah herself appeared. Her hair was in disarray, and dirt smeared her lovely features, but she was walking on her own, and she was smiling. "Let her see," Leah told Sam.

"She's up too high," Sam smirked. "Maybe I should put her down right here."

"Yeah," Leah laughed. "This is a good spot."

Sam carefully set her down, just far enough away from the fire that she didn't ignite. "What are you doing?" Emily asked. "Just get it over with!"

"Don't worry," Jacob answered. He picked her arm off the ground and tossed it into the flaming pile behind her. "You'll be ashes soon enough."

Leah bent down to look her directly in the eye. "You could have had it all, did you know that? You wanted everything, and you had it all, right it in the palm of your hand. You wanted Sam? You already had him! He was already yours! But you had to get greedy, didn’t you? And look at what it’s gotten you? Nothing and no one. You haven’t just lost everything. You threw it away."

"I wouldn't change a thing," Emily insisted with false bravado. "Even if I die, it was worth it. It was worth it to make you suffer. I may die, but you will too.”

Paul told her, "No, she won't."

"Of course she will. It's just a matter of time until the venom makes it to her heart."

Leah straightened up. "That doesn't matter. It's already there." She held her fist to her chest. "But look," she flexed her hip and knee, showing Emily the wound. "It's already closing. It'll be gone by tomorrow."

Emily's jaw dropped open. It couldn't be. She hadn't bitten Leah for long, but she had pumped nearly all the venom in her fangs into Leah's bloodstream. She shouldn't still be standing, let alone beginning to heal. "That's just some kind of a trick!"

Leah crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Not a trick," she explained simply. "Just basic biology. I'm immune." She thought of saying more, but she realized she had nothing left to say. She was done with Emily once and for all. “Why am I even talking to you? It’s not worth it. Nothing about you is worth it.” She started to turn away.

As the pack closed in around her, Emily screamed, realizing how close she was to the end. “You bitch! Don’t turn your back on me!” But Leah ignored her, and she began to realize the gravity of her situation. Emily looked up at Sam. He was her imprint. He had to help her. “Sam! Sam! My love, you can’t do this to me. I’m your imprint!”

“You’re my worst nightmare,” Sam spat. “You’re a monster, and you always were. I see that now. I wish I never laid eyes on you.”

Emily screeched, “I’m a monster? I’m your imprint! Besides, look at yourself, you hypocrite! All of you! You’re filthy animals, nothing more!”

Seth shook his head. “An animal is better than you. God. What happened to you, Emily?”

Her eyes flashed. “What happened to me? I found my destiny! I became who I was always meant to be! I became a god!”

“Shut her up!” Paul yelled, sick of listening to her. He reached for Leah’s hand. “What are you waiting for? Just get rid of her.”

“No!” Emily screamed. “You can’t! You can’t do this to me!”

They ignored her pleas. Jacob asked Leah, “Do you want to do the honors?”

Leah just shook her head. “I don’t even want to look at her. I just want her gone.”

Jacob nodded, signalling Sam, who took one more look at the creature that had ruined his life. “Goodbye, Emily.” With a single push of his foot, he toppled her back, and the blaze rose to surround her as she screamed.

Leah turned around, embracing a horrified Rachel. “Is it over?”

Leah examined her carefully, finding her to be stunned, but otherwise uninjured. Paul gathered Leah into his arms and tucked her cheek against his chest. She closed her eyes and let him hold her up while she wondered what had happened to the kind girl she knew. She had been gone for a long time, or maybe she had never existed. When Emily’s cries finally faded, Leah whispered, “It’s over.”

Paul picked Leah gently off the ground and started walking away. Quil and Rachel helped Billy up, and Jacob leaned on Embry’s shoulder for support. Rachel asked her brother, "I don't get it. What just happened? How did Sam move after you ordered him not to?"

Jacob explained, "While we were still phased, I kicked him out of the pack. That way he didn't have to follow my orders. And I don't have to follow anybody’s orders, not even my own, so..."

"You tricked her!" Leah was amazed. She knew she had taken another big risk when she approached Emily as a human, and telling her that Jacob would order the pack to let her get away was even riskier. She was incredibly lucky that Jacob had come up with a solution. "That’s brilliant."

Paul shook his head and squeezed her to his chest. "None of this was brilliant. It was all completely stupid, and you could have died! I can't believe you got bitten again!"

Leah stuck her leg out to show him. "It’s basically a mosquito bite. Invincible, remember?"

"Stop saying that!"

Leah kissed his cheek. "Just be happy for a little bit, and yell at me later. Emily's dead. Doesn't that make you happy?"

Reluctantly, he smiled. The disgusting scent of burning vampire never smelled so good. "Yeah. Yeah, it does."

Jacob glanced back. "Sam, you coming?"

Sam was still staring at the flames. He didn’t turn around. "In a bit. You guys go ahead."

Sam was the last to leave. He couldn’t take his eyes off the charred face in the flames. He watched as it turned from ashy grey to flinty black, as the features melted grotesquely together. He stayed until it was completely unrecognizable, and he didn't move. Slowly, slowly the fire died down.

When nothing was left but ash, he was finally free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to Babs81410. As you can tell, this one is wrapping up quickly. I’ve got a few ideas for the next story, but don’t have my heart set on anything specific. Whenever I give Sam such a hard time in a story, I’m tempted to do a Sam/Leah, but I can be swayed, and am soliciting prompts/requests. More Sam? Would you like to see Embry/Leah? Or should I finally dive into Blackwater?


	39. Epilogue

It was only after, when all the danger had passed, that Leah had nightmares. Before, her conscious fears actually focused her and held them at bay. She was too worried about the possibility of losing someone she loved to second-guess herself, too exhausted by the burden of responsibility to do anything at but fall into oblivion when she closed her eyes. She slept soundly knowing that she was doing everything she could to protect her tribe. She did not mourn the loss of her oldest friend, nor did she pause to linger in regret. Instead, she shoved any uncertainty to the back of her brain, willfully ignoring anything except the way forward.

Other than the one she experienced right after being kidnapped by Emily, Leah hadn’t had any flashbacks. Not frightening ones, anyway. Instead, on the night before Emily’s funeral, she dreamed of being a little girl, spinning in circles and whispering secrets with her best friend. At the end of the dream, young Emily ran away, and Leah couldn’t get her back. She woke with a deep sense of loss pushing down on her chest, as heavy as bricks. Only Paul’s low, soothing whispers in the dark lifted the weight. The next day, though, Leah looked into the grieving faces of Emily’s mother and sister, who believed she had died in a car accident, and she remembered. Once upon a time, they had been friends, even if their relationship had been tainted by Emily’s jealousy. Once, Emily had been human. Leah held her aunt in a tight embrace and told her very sincerely that she was so sorry about what had happened. And she realized it was true, even if the trembling woman didn’t realize what she was really talking about. She did not regret what she and the pack had done, but she regretted that it had to happen at all.

After leaving the graveside service, Paul offered to drive Leah back to La Push, but she wanted to be alone for a little while. He accepted her sadness, but he couldn’t relate to it. As far as he was concerned, the world was a better place without Emily. Though Leah agreed, she needed a little time to mourn. She decided to make her way back to their reservation on foot. No one else was phased, and she was alone.

It was a rare sunny day, so shafts of light pierced the forest canopy. Leah made her way back at a slow pace, listening to the calls of the birds and the rustle of wind through the leaves, and she allowed herself to feel sad even as the forest brought her peace. When she reached Ozette Lake, she skirted the shoreline, staying away from the hiking paths and campgrounds. But when she saw a familiar pier stretching into the lake, she couldn’t resist the temptation of transforming back into her human body and dipping her toes in the cool, clear water.

She wasn’t surprised when she heard his soft footfalls on the planks behind her. He hadn’t attended the funeral. Those who didn’t know what had really happened were shocked, although everyone knew they had split before Emily’s death. Still, they expected him to appear, to look heartsick or grim or stoic, and more than one person turned to door every time it opened, expecting to see him slip in.

Sam lowered himself down beside her. “I didn’t think I’d see you here.”

“Me neither.” She didn’t turn to him, but she watched the way the light refracted through the surface of the water and drew patterns on their feet. “It was a bit of a last-minute decision. I wanted a little bit of…”

Abruptly, he started to push himself back. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll let you be.”

She put a hand on his wrist. “No, you don’t have to go.” At his skeptical look, she added, “Honestly.”

He settled back down and tipped his chin at the few fishing boats scattered across the surface of the wide lake. “I always liked this place. Looked forward to the times your dad brought us fishing up here. Remember the time Seth tipped the canoe? You got so mad…”

“He lost me my iPod! I’d saved up for that thing for months. I guess it’s still at the bottom of the lake somewhere.”

“Your dad laughed so hard, I thought he’d fall in and drown.” After their own laughter died down, he admitted, “I miss your dad sometimes.”

She finally looked directly at him. His expression was cautious, sad, and hopeful all at the same time. “Me too.” This was something she shared with Sam more than with Paul. Harry had been more of a father figure to him that the long-absent Joshua. And while Allen wasn’t an attentive father, especially in recent years, he was still there. Once he got over his initial shock at learning the truth about his son and his own ancestry, he realized how neglectful he had been, and he was trying to make it up to Paul in the remaining weeks before they moved to Pullman. He had even offered to sell his house, since no one would live there come autumn, and give some of the proceeds to Paul to support him in the next phase of his life.

After a long stretch of silence, Sam asked, “Are they all pissed at me?”

Leah shrugged. “Disappointed, I think. Surprised that you weren’t there. But you going, it wouldn’t have made their pain any better.”

“I know. There was no way I could stand in front of her family and pretend I’m sad about it.”

“Because you’re still too angry.” She understood completely. “Which is fine. You’re allowed.”

When he thought about Emily, which was often, the only emotion he could conjure was fury, and there was no way to hide it. Not yet. He was far too raw. He watched as Leah began to kick at the water, sending little droplets sparkling through the air. “You don’t seem to be, so much.”

“Not as much now,” she admitted. “I had a while to process it, to get used to it. Even before I knew exactly what was going on. But it was really sudden for you.”

His hand twitched where it lay on the dock, and she knew he wanted to reach out for her. Instead, he said, “It was sudden for you too.”

It certainly felt that way when he abruptly ended their relationship. But she had months to start moving on before she came home and started to understand what had really happened. She had time to recover, had her mother and Seth, then Rachel, and finally Paul. For Sam, it was still early, and he had no one. The pack was supportive in its own way, and his mother loved him dearly, but for years, it was Leah who had been his best friend, not just his lover and fiancée. Now, she offered him simple honesty. “It just takes time. I promise, it’ll get better.”

“I just wish...” he said softly.

She gently placed her hand on his. “I know.” It wasn’t too long ago that she felt the same way. Then she took her hand away, not wanting to send the wrong message, because she knew he would cling to the slightest hints. A year ago, she would have, too. She asked, “What do you think you’ll do now?”

“Kim hooked me up with a job working for her uncle in Spokane. Entry level construction.”

“Oh!” She brightened, even if he did not. Sam was good with his hands, and very hardworking. She knew he would do well. “That’s great. You’ll be so good at that.” He just shrugged. She knew he wanted to be going to college with her, not moving to a new city by himself. She tentatively offered, “That’s only, what, about an hour from Pullman?”

He straightened slightly. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“You should come see us, when we’re all on that side of the state.” She chose her words carefully. She and Paul were a package deal now. “And Rachel said something about going up in September for a food and music festival. Maybe we’ll see you when we come?”

A smile spread across his face slowly, but eventually, it reached his eyes.

X-x-x-x-X

At the end of the summer, the pack threw a huge celebratory bonfire. It would be their last chance to be together for several months. The next day, Paul and Leah would be moving to Pullman, into an apartment two floors below Rachel’s. Sam even came back from Spokane for the occasion, and Jared, who had taken a job as a night watchman at a storage facility in Forks, took the night off. A week later, the tribal school would start its fall semester, where the younger pack members would hopefully be able to attend every day, awake and alert since they no longer had to balance their education against a grueling patrol schedule.

Their families provided hearty, flavorful food. Jared organized a game loosely designed on the rules of football, but played in the water, which resulted in the near-drowning of Embry and Seth. Quil, Brady, and Collin were in charge of the fire, so it was enormous. Paul tried to pull Leah away from the festivities, wanting to get her alone. She laughed and refused, reminding him that by the very next night, they would have all the privacy they wanted. They would have the entire rest of their lives to be with each other. Tonight she wanted to stay with her family and friends. She was going so far as to sleep in her mother’s house, which Paul didn't like it at all, but Leah insisted. She wanted to wake up to the smell of her mother’s cooking one more time, and she wanted to eat breakfast with Sue and her brother before they got on the road. Besides, she wasn't leaving him alone. He would stay with her.

So they stayed on the beach as evening fell. Someone turned on music, and Rachel grabbed Leah to dance. Eventually Leah pulled Paul in, and when she grew thirsty, left them to sit down with a beer. Jacob plopped down next to her. "You look pretty happy," he observed.

"I am,” she said sincerely.

After a beat, Jacob nodded at Paul. "He does, too." Then he actually looked at what Paul was doing. Rachel was cajoling him into learning the Cupid Shuffle. “Actually, he looks constipated, or maybe like he’s having a seizure.”

Leah laughed, “He’s a pretty good dancer, actually, but he hates line dances. He says that it’s just people looking like idiots in unison. Your sister said she’d only use her power for good, not for evil, but I like that she’s pushing that boundary just a little.”

Jacob astutely asked, “Did you put her up to that? Because you look awfully amused by it.”

She shrugged nonchalantly, but the little smirk on her face was his answer. “Maybe.”

“You excited about going back?” Jacob asked.

"Yeah. Sometimes I can’t believe it’s actually happening, though. Before all this started, If you had asked me what I'd be doing right now, well, I couldn't have guessed anything that happened this whole year, or that I’d be with Paul Lahote, of all people, let alone so happy.”

They watched as Quil snuck over to the speakers and switched the song. As the Chicken Dance began to blare, he jumped behind Rachel, grabbed both her hands, and made her flap her arms like wings as she screeched in protest. Paul laughed so hard he ended up falling to his knees in the sand.

After they recovered from their own fits of laughter, Leah asked Jacob, “What about you? Just two semesters to go. What are you going to do after you graduate? You going to follow Bella to Jacksonville?" She knew it wouldn't happen, but she wanted to see the expression on Jacob's face.  
  
He didn’t disappoint. He looked as if he had just eaten something terrible. Jacob actually laughed out loud at the absurdity. "Fat chance. No, I’m done chasing that girl around."

"You ever hear from her?"

Jacob nodded. "She calls sometimes. And she’s doing okay, I guess. Still trying to figure out who she is and what she's doing."

As Paul lowered himself onto the ground behind her, extending his long legs on either side of hers and wrapping his arms around her belly, Leah asked, "You miss her much?"

Jacob surprised himself with his answer. "No, I really don't. Too much drama."

Paul added, "And whining, and crying, and total stupidity, and…"

A few months ago, Jacob would have decked Paul for saying such things. Now, he just chuckled. "I know. I know. You don't need to remind me. She got kind of pissed when I told her about this date I've got coming up next Friday…"

Now Paul was really interested. "Oh yeah? Who with?"

"A girl from the Hoh Rez. I met her at the Tribal Hall. She came up with her dad for the drum circle."

Paul remarked, "Yeah? What's her name? Any chance I know her?" The local tribes formed a community, and there was a decent chance that Paul had crossed paths with her.

Jacob answered, "Maybe. Her name's Leeta. She's my age."

Paul didn’t know her, but Leah did. From what she remembered, she was a very pretty, vivacious girl. “She’s got a younger sister, right?” She pulled out her phone and aimed it at Seth, who had joined Quil in the ridiculous dance and was in the process of opening and closing his hands like a chicken’s beak.

“I think so. What are you doing? Getting blackmail material on your brother?” Jacob asked.

Leah snickered as she recorded Seth. “Kinda. I’ll forward it to you. He’s been seeing Leeta’s sister, Cora. You have to double date, and then show them both this video.”

Paul pointed out, “I feel like you should save that for something big. You could get something good out of him.”

“Like his dirty sock collection? Some comic books?” Leah asked. “He doesn’t have anything worth blackmailing for, so I will just satisfy my desire to humiliate my baby brother.”

Seth, oblivious to the camera, started to shimmy his butt back and forth obligingly, and Jacob snorted in amusement. “That’ll work really, really well.”

When the song finally ended, Rachel managed to escape Quil’s clutches and turned off the music. Billy took the opportunity to quiet the crowd, and he held his drink up for a toast. “Thanks for coming tonight, everyone. I hope you’re enjoying our little summer celebration. We’ve had a lot of bonfires over the years, and we’ve celebrated a lot of our children as they take the next steps in their lives. But this year is special, because these kids are special. So, congratulations, everyone. To the future!”

He drank from his bottle, intending to let the party continue, but his sister urged him to keep talking. A few people called out, “Speech! Speech!” and, “Tell us the legends!”

Billy cleared his throat and smiled. After all, he was the tribe’s storyteller, its historian, its keeper of secrets, its chief. When the crowd fell silent, he started to talk. But instead of starting at the beginning, rather than tell the tale of Kahelela, Taha Aki, or the Third Wife, he began with their own children. He set the scene, speaking of evil within their midst, of the treacherous Cold Ones who violated their treaty, of the flame-haired interloper and her paramour. Then his eyes landed on Leah. He told the tale of the first female shifter. He spoke of her valor, her bravery, and her sacrifice. His voice thick with admiration, he talked about her brave and foolhardy decisions to stand up to face the enemy again and again. And he turned to his son, his eyes shining with pride, and he wove the tale of a young Alpha coming into his own. He hadn’t been there when Leah pulled Victoria off the cliff, nor when Jacob tore Alice’s head off or brought down Edward, or when they saved Bella from Edward. But it sounded as if he had. His voice hardened when he came to the faithless imprint who betrayed them, and his judgmental glare sent Old Quil shuffling off into the night. But then he turned to Sam, and he spoke of honor and redemption. He looked at each one of the Protectors, and he spoke of the unique roles each one had to play in the story. And finally, he spoke of living history, of the future, of the tribe.

When he was done, no one spoke for a long time. Billy had woven a rich tapestry, a spell, and no one wanted to break it. It wasn’t until Charlie Swan, whose relationship with his oldest friend had been strained nearly to the breaking point, cleared his throat and thanked them all for what they had done. Then the adults began to drift away. But the pack stayed long into the night. They didn’t know when they would all be together again. After living in each other’s brains, it was a bit of a relief, but they would miss each other. No one else, not even Billy, could quite understand what they had been through.

Well after sunset, after the last orange glow fell beneath the sea and the moon rose in the sky, Quil pulled a battered cardboard box out of the Rabbit. Leah spotted the gleeful expression on his face as he approached the fire, and she nudged Paul. “Any idea what he’s up to?”

“Fireworks, maybe?” Paul speculated. “Except he doesn’t have the cash to buy that stuff.”

As he pulled a variety of household items out of the box, they only became more confused until he started tossing them into the fire. Leah was slightly intrigued by the sparks thrown by table sugar, and startled by the green flame from flaming borax, but she laughed uproariously when Quil singed his eyebrows off trying to make white flames with epsom salts.

Paul hardly noticed their comical antics. He was too busy watching Leah laugh. This was the girl he had watched for years, peeking at her through sidelong glances, glancing across crowded rooms, staring as she passed him on the street. Her whole body shook with her mirth, from her pink lacquer tipped toes, to her taut belly, to her hair as it tossed about her head. And best of all were her eyes, not haunted by grief, hard with determination, or wet with unshed tears. They sparkled, reflecting the glow of the bonfire. He couldn’t resist any longer, and he brought her in for a kiss. Her beautiful eyes slipped shut as she melted into him.

His lips awoke something in her. This time, when he tempted her into the woods, she couldn’t resist. As they walked, he kept her close, kissing her neck and murmuring his intentions in her ear, and she tripped several times. Only his arms around her waist kept her from falling.

He tried to lift up her sundress as soon as they were out of sight, but they could still hear the voices of their brothers, so she untangled his fingers from her hem and dashed ahead of him. He growled playfully and ran after her as she dodged between trees and leapt over fallen logs. She let him catch her when they reached the river.

He grabbed her by the hips and spun her around. She couldn’t stop laughing long enough for him to properly kiss her mouth, so he peppered her cheeks, nose, chin, and brow with tiny pecks as he ran his hands up and down her body. This time, when he tugged at her fabric, she didn’t stop him. Instead, their limbs became slightly tangled as she tried to pull his shirt off while he was lowering the zipper along her spine. Neither of them noticed when his tee shirt landed in the water, nor when the slow current carried it away.

He was too busy where he knelt at her feet, dragging her panties down her legs and sliding his fingers through her folds. Her knees buckled, but he steadied her with one hand, telling her to stay right where she was. The moon had risen, and its soft light illuminated her where she stood. As he slipped one finger, then two, then three, inside her, pausing from time to time to circle gently with his thumb, he watched her, transfixed. She trembled and struggled to stay upright, grasping at his shoulders with her hands. He tugged one of her straps down her arm, and she helped him lower the other, and then she stood before him with her dress rucked around her waist. He leaned up to suck at the tips of her breasts, his hand maintaining its steady rhythm, and she quickly shuddered and shook with a beautiful orgasm.

He could have easily pleasured her longer, but she was too eager to touch him. She pulled him to stand as he licked her from his fingers, moaning at the flavor of her sex, and she dropped to her knees. She freed him from his shorts, but was too impatient to rid him entirely of his clothing. Hungrily, she took him into her mouth and hummed happily around him. Now it was his turn to lose his balance. What she was doing felt so good that he nearly fell, but he maintained the wherewithal to lock his knees, threaded his fingers through her hair, and began to pump in and out of her mouth. She kept her eyes trained up, seducing him with her eyes as much as her tongue, and he couldn’t look away. He barely blinked, entranced by her expression. Her eyes sparkled, and the corners of her lips turned up in the moments they weren’t stretched tight around his wide base. She hummed in satisfaction, and he felt the vibrations from the tip of his cock to the top of his head. Without thought, he began to curse, muttering about how good she felt, how much he wanted her, how perfect she was.

He never thought that he would have something like this, something so good. Before he knew her, he thought romantic love held no influence on him, that he could pretend it for the sake of seduction, but nothing more. He believed himself capable of affection, of fondness, but no more. Knowing her was such a surprise.

When he was on the brink, he managed to drag her up, kissing her deeply. He had to be inside of her, needed to feel her climax around him before he allowed himself to fall over the edge. He pulled her dress off, kicked his shorts behind him, and pushed her down on a large, flat rock that bordered the river. He spread her open beneath him, and he entered her in one long, slow thrust.

Their physical connection was a revelation. Despite his ample prior experience, he had never felt anything close to the overwhelming bliss of being with her. It was deeper, richer, and purer than anything he thought he was capable of. And he valued it more than anything, valued her more than anything, because he had come so close to losing her so many times.

At first, he held himself still, buried in her heat, trying to regain control of himself. The things she had done to him had him nearly undone, so he didn’t move despite her whimpering and the insistent twisting of her hips. Instead, he stared down at her, first hypnotized by the sight of their bodies joining, then raking up her beautiful body, and finally pinning her down with the intensity of his eyes locked on hers. Roughly, he told her, “I love you.”

Despite the aching in her core, the primitive demand to move, to lose herself in their coupling, she paused to touch his cheek with the palm of her hand. Paul had given her so much. He had reminded her how to laugh when all she had were tears. With his persistence, he had cracked through the ice with which she shielded her heart. Somehow, he helped her transform her bitterness into passion. He did it by being himself, by being only honest and open and true. And in the midst of her worst self-loathing, she looked in his eyes and saw herself reflected there. And what she saw astonished her. He showed her the best version of herself, the strong, powerful, loyal, loving person she had always been. And he showed her that finding her wolf, as tragic as the circumstances were, did not reveal a monster inside her. Instead, it revealed her true nature: healer and warrior both.

“Oh, Paul,” she sighed. “I love you too.”

And then they began to move. Their bodies bowed apart and came together. Her hands clutched at his arms, along his shoulders, down his back. He buried his face in her neck, nipping at her sensitive skin, leaving tiny little marks, then laving at them with his tongue. She held him tightly with her legs, barely allowing him enough room to move, and she flipped him onto his back. He held her by the hips and lifted her up and down as she rode him, reveling in the tightness of her sex, the sight of her narrow waist as she arched her back, the raw pleasure on her face that she made no attempt to hide. He reached up to caress her full breasts, pinched at her nipples, and finally curled himself up to take them into his mouth. Her moans only further inflamed him. When he couldn’t stand it any more, he stilled her with his grip, clutched her chest tightly to his, and he began to pound up into her. Leah could barely hold on. His movements were so powerful, so possessive, it was all she could do to find the moon-shaped scar she had left on his collarbone, worrying it with her teeth as she tightened her thighs around his.

The stimulation of the mark triggered Paul’s wolf to go wild. The animal rose to the surface of his consciousness, and he could no longer remain in the submissive position. He pushed her off him as she gasped in surprise, pushed her down into the soft grass, sat on his heels, dragged her onto his thighs, and roughly slammed back into her body. She was undone. Her climax began to take over her in waves, and he reveled in her harsh, shaking wail. Her core began to contract tightly around him as he drew out her pleasure as long as he could, but when she called out his name, he couldn’t hold on any longer. He curled himself over her, twisted her head to the side, and sank his teeth in the same spot he had already marked her. As he emptied himself inside her, he claimed her once more.

They remained locked together until she decided she wanted to bathe in the river, and then they played and splashed in the cool water. He wondered what he had done to deserve this kind of happiness, while she was silently grateful for him. When he pulled her back to the flat rock to sit until they dried, she told him everything she had been thinking, and so did he.

When they finally left, they joined hands and stepped into their future.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A final thanks to Babs81410, who is an absolutely fantastic beta. Thanks also to everyone who stuck with the story, who reviewed, favorited, followed, and encouraged with your kind words. And most of all, thanks to MargotTenser, without whom the story would not exist.


End file.
